When I finally went to bed last night, the most obvious fact of the political night was that my candidate had lost and that this country was going to continue on the same path that it had traveled for quite a few years now. My hope was that we could begin to turn this ship of state around somewhat at least, and begin to go back to our founding roots. This was my perception of the situation anyway.
As I lay in bed, my mind began to worry just a bit about what was going to happen in the years ahead. Not just the few that I might have left, even though I did consider that also, but the years of my children and grand children. Would they live free and prosper, or would they find the quality of their lives deteriorating and their freedoms curtailed? Could it be that this is a normal thought when the other side wins?
I was anxious to get to the Bible readings for this morning, so, after a time of corporate Bible study at church early, I came home to sit and read. From the reading in Luke chapter 15, two parables about a lost coin and a lost sheep, I read twice:
"Rejoice with me,"
"Rejoice with me,"
What did I have to rejoice about, especially today, the morning after?
These thoughts are not in the order of eternal importance, they are just the order they came to me:
1. This election, though contested bitterly up till the end, was a miracle in itself. I think of some other countries around this world where elections are not so orderly and so peaceful, and the freedoms that we hold so dear are not evident. We can rejoice that we live here and have this opportunity.
2. We live in a great country. It has been in the past and it can be in the future. We have not always been right, but I think, on balance, that we have been a blessing to the world at large. We enjoy both the prosperity and freedom that are the envy of the rest of the world. God has blessed us mightily in this regard.
3. God is still in control. He knows our ending from our beginning. He was not surprised by any political outcome, and His Will will be accomplished. I need to live each day in that fact.
I find myself convicted by one primary thought: I have been derelict in my duty to pray for our country and its leaders. If prayer has any power, and I believe it does, then it is my responsibility to pray for these men and women who hold this governing power in their hands.
I realize also, that this nation will not be healed or turned to the right direction, through the efforts of the voting public at the ballot box. As great as that privilege is, that we have this right to vote and choose, it is only through God's help and mercy that this country will be what it should be. Are we completely wrong? NO, but we have enough sins in our national and personal lives that only God in His mercy and grace can make us into the blessing that He desires.
This verse is still very applicable. Not just because my man lost, but it needs to be on top of every prayer list to put, or keep, this nation, or any country, on God's path.
"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."
This verse is available to all, and all need to pray this way, but the emphasis is on "my people". We can Rejoice because we have the opportunity to pray this and mean it, all of us. The formula for success for any nation is right there.
"Rejoice with me,"
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