The last two weeks, I’ve been talking about "Stuff". I’ve received some very good feedback from some of you about this and would like to encourage you to continue to share your thoughts with me as well. I really wanted to work my last two thoughts together into a conclusion that I came to about stuff and living simple but for some reason, God took me in another direction this week. I’m sure that we’ll get back to "Stuff" sooner or later, we always do, but this week I want to talk politics!
The first year that Sherlyn and I attended the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, Andy Stanley used a portion of a verse from Daniel 4:25 as his focus scripture.
"The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes."
This has since become a verse that I carry with me to remind me of God’s ultimate authority and that He is in control. It also helps me to remember to pray for those in leadership; church, work, state, federal, etc… That said, I often think about how this applies to our electoral system in the United States.
We (Christians) always talk about how God will never abandon us and I also believe this to be true because His Word says as much. While I believe this to be true, I've also been meditating on a verse for some time now and I also believe it holds a lesson that we need to learn and remember.
Judges 16:20 (English Standard Version)
20And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Samson!" And he awoke from his sleep and said, "I will go out as at other times and shake myself free." But he did not know that the LORD had left him.
Now... I have the Holy Spirit that I know with certainty will never leave, abandon or depart from me. I also have other verses in the OT, which state that God will not abandon me, so, what does this verse mean by the "LORD had left him."
I believe that sometimes we can enter into a state where something in our life can become a barrier to our relationship with God. This means that we are not always able to call on the things that God has promised us we will have through our relationship with him. Things such as His strength, peace, blessings, etc… I believe that we can walk outside of God’s will and eventually we will find that we have been walking without God’s guidance towards a place far from God.
I equate this to an occurrence in my early Christian walk. I had just come to realize that God had given me the gift of intercession (prayer). While this discovery was an incredible and wonderful experience it quickly became something that I began to take too much pride in. I began seeking "others" admiration and I was constantly looking for praise from those people after prayer. In my pride, I began trying to be more elaborate and beautiful with my prayers and this lead to my leaning on my own knowledge and thoughts for prayer and eventually, it was as if God turned off the faucet. I began having trouble praying to the point where I began to look for ways to "duck out" of those opportunities or divert prayers to others that I knew would pray. I actually began to take control of some situations so that I could ask others to pray rather than being the one asked to pray. Now after some amount of time and self-examination with God’s word, I became humbled to the point of realizing that the gift I had been given came from God and was of God, therefore I was only the vessel and not the catalyst. Without God’s divine inspiration, my gift was meaningless.
In summary, I guess what I’m really saying is this. While God will not abandon us, he will allow us to make choices that can have a negative effect on our lives. If you look at the overall spiritual atmosphere of the United States then it seems clear to me that, while God is in control, that maybe the person we elect will not always make the wisest or most beneficial decisions for our lives and families. Our nation has "turned from God" to the point where God may leave us to our own consequences. The good thing is that our redemption will come through the sovereignty of our mighty and wonderful Father.
Romans 8:28 (NIV)
More Than Conquerors
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
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