With Help It Can Be Done

   When I saw this last verse in this morning's reading in Luke 14:

    "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

   my mind went immediately to our election this coming Tuesday. Probably that was because we took the advantage of the early voting schedule to cast our ballots yesterday.

   Now, since we are not living in a "battleground" state and do not have cable in our home, we have not been subjected to the many political ads that are flooding the airways, and so have been spared all the rhetoric that accompanies this every four year event.

   But it is hard to escape it altogether, and I see and hear the candidates telling the voters why they should vote in a certain way.

   I can fix this...

   I can bring us back...

   I have accomplished this...

   I will do this...

   I will not do this...

   People want a person who projects himself or herself as a strong leader, a person that will get things done, and it is hard to portray oneself as this type without the constant use of the "I" pronoun. The ones that write and produce all that advertising must feel that these are selling points that will sway a person when he or she goes to the polls.

   I know that I, on my own, can do little, and certainly nothing of eternal importance. I realize the fact stated in Psalm 121:

   "My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth."

   Realizing that politicians running for office will often say "With your help (talking to the voters) and with God's help, I will.....". Cynically, it seems like the help they want from the voters and from God is only to be put in office, and then they can get the job done.

   How refreshing would it be to have someone ask for help from God, and from the people, and mean it past election day?

   My prayer is that God might raise up leaders for our nation that rely on Him and not themselves.