Offenses in election season
Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”
The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” Luke 17:3-5
Have you noticed recently how touchy our society has gotten? Everywhere I turn I’m seeing verbal slap fights between all kinds of folks!
It’s gotten more intense lately because of the hotly contested primary season and soon-to-come presidential campaigns.
Even among believers: “I like this party and you like the other”. If you and I aren’t careful, we can come to blows verbally.
Or perhaps you and I share a general party preference. I like one primary candidate and you like another. Well, I’ve felt the “wrath of God” pour out against my audacity/stupidity/dullness-of-heart in supporting one person over “God’s chosen candidate”—and this from dear believing people! But one such friend confided in me that she’s feeling the same “righteous indignation” directed at her from Christians who support the candidate I like. Oi vey!
Jesus told us to be on our guard. Life is weird, and there are many potholes and pitfalls along the way. And some of the most deceitfully dangerous snares to be found occur in our everyday interactions with each other—especially with those we love or are more closely connected to.
Why? Because none of us are perfect. You can rub me the wrong way with your words, attitude, or ways, and Lord knows I can do the same to you! Thoughtlessness happens; and you and I are both capable of sinning against each other in word or deed.
What is Jesus’ input when someone messes with your peace? Blast their credibility? Give them the cold shoulder? Brand them as a despicable reprobate?
No; Jesus directs you to go to them personally and address the sin (by the way, disagreeing on candidates is not included on the list of verifiable offenses). If they repent, then let it drop. Don’t hold it over their head for all of eternity.
And if they sin again, forgive them again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again.
And here’s the crux of the whole forgiveness deal:
The disciples didn’t say in response to Jesus’ forgiveness admonition, “Easy peasy; piece of cake.” Instead, they cried, “Increase our faith!”
In other words, the hardest thing to overcome won’t be a natural obstacle—a financial, material, or physical need; the hardest thing you’ll face is dealing with offenses! And trust me: Offenses are a dime a dozen—and they pile up, bloat, and stretch out with gluttonous tentacles that wind around the life of the person who refuses to let them go.
Back to the campaign trail. If you witness or are assaulted yourself by the zeal of political zealots during this election season, and you are determined to hold your own and refuse to give up ground…remember this: You live in an imperfect world with imperfect—albeit loved-by-God—people.
And although you have the right—and even the responsibility at times—to state your opinion about all matters politic, you are beholden only to One, the Lord Jesus Christ—not to Ted Cruz, not to Donald Trump, not to John Kasich, not to Bernie Sanders, not to Hillary Clinton.
If you feel the wrath and righteous indignation of others rising up against you—and your own rising up against them in return—step away for a minute, take a breath, look to Heaven and whisper, “Lord! Increase my faith!”
And because of the intensity of our current political climate, I want to offer a prayer for all of us:
Lord, help us as we navigate this weird, wacky, windy, wind-fest of an election season! Lord—Increase our faith!
Dorothy
Read MoreWhy I value the US Constitution
Navigating the vote wisely
A couple of weeks ago I shared about an odd word that kept coming to me as I prayed about the upcoming election season: Obfuscation.
Although I was unfamiliar with the word, I knew its definition would reveal specific direction concerning strategies used to skew the November election in an ungodly way. Therefore, if I was to pray about this election, I needed to have a clearer picture of what we were up against.
Obfuscate means to darken, to put into a stupor, to bewilder, and overall, to confuse.
And as I’ve read about, watched, and discussed the specifics concerning each candidate and his or her platform, ideas, temperament, and insight, I know one thing: Obfuscation is in the atmosphere.
Yes, I am leaning strongly toward a certain candidate, and I am glad he is still in the race for the Missouri primary on March 15. (OK—that gives you a clue about which candidate I won’t be voting for.)
But as I observe and engage in conversations about the candidates, I am struck by the level of deep, gut-level emotion—and at times, downright animosity—that lies just beneath the surface; emotion that at times lashes out at dear friends, relatives, and anyone else within earshot…and I’ve even caught myself at times in the role of “lasher”.
Whatever your viewpoint, this election is pivotal. Its outcome will affect generations of Americans to come; how you vote—and whether you vote—will have lasting repercussions.
“But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil” (I Thessalonians 5:21-22).
If you lean more heavily on feelings or gut impressions, study the positions of the candidates before you make your final, prayerful decision. If you are a more cerebral individual who intellectually weighs out all of the facts, then amp up your prayer over all the information you’ve gleaned.
Thankfully, you are not alone in your decision; you have a Helper—the Holy Spirit Himself—to assist you as you navigate all the info and myriads of video, soundbites, and analyses of talking heads. He is faithful to direct you in your vote as you lean on Him and take advantage of His guidance. He will help you to discern between truth and error, soul and spirit, wisdom and folly, and prudence versus group think. And perhaps most importantly—and most difficult of all—be willing to let Him redirect you if your thoughts concerning this election have not been His thoughts (see Isaiah 55:8).
And trust God. He is the Good Shepherd. He cares about this nation; He cares about the outcome of this election. As you seek Him and proceed accordingly in your civic responsibility to vote, I believe He will direct your steps and have His way.
Dorothy
Read MoreObfuscation
I was praying on Valentine’s Day about the election, and the word “obfuscation” kept coming to me. I wasn’t sure of two things: how to pronounce it or what it means. But I sensed that it was a strategy to bring confusion to the American people and their vote, and I also felt that I was to pray that God would bring forth effective strategies to overturn all the strategies of obfuscation.
The word means “to make obscure or unclear; to darken.”
As I tore this word apart, I found three similar definitions that are distinctly different in their connotations. I sensed that there are three corresponding groups of people upon which the strategy of obfuscation is being applied: those who are well-meaning and “live and let live” types; the me-first, pleasure/gratification-driven crowd; and the church.
Here are the three definitions:
To confuse. This is the strategy of temporary interference with the clear working of one’s mind through causing confusion, unsettledness, embarrassment, or a multitude of distractions. This strategy is used with the well-meaning, live and let live crowd who want to pull their own weight and make good choices. It is intended to push them off-balance and to confuse them in their decision-making processes. They are manipulated while they are confused.
To stupefy. This is the strategy to remove sensibility, to benumb the faculties, to put into a stupor, to stun as with a narcotic, a shock, or a strong emotion. This strategy is used with the me-first crowd and the pleasure/gratification-driven crowd. They are manipulated and controlled through the daze of their pleasures and the promise of unending gratification.
To bewilder. This strategy is all about causing its targets to stagger and be confounded at the immensity of the forces that defy them. It is used to muddy the waters and cause targets to lose both their hope and their way. This strategy is intended to cause targets to wander aimlessly, unanchored and without vision. This is the strategy of obfuscation that is being used against the church. When our hope is lost, we become unanchored; without a vision, we perish.
So as I pray about this election, I realize that obfuscation is being used against American people of all stripes. I will be praying for God to bring light to these strategies, and that the intended targets will wake up and wise up to see that what they’ve been thinking and feeling isn’t completely true. I’ll be praying that light will illuminate the minds of the hundreds of millions of my fellow citizens to see clearly—perhaps for the first time in their lives—and to make wise decisions that will not only affect the course of this election, but also the course of their individual lives and the nation.
And I’d like for you to join me.
Dorothy
Read MoreHow do I pray for our nation?
How do I pray for my country? Just by asking this question, you show your desire to shoulder your part of the prayer load, and I believe this pleases God. Even though the problems in our nation appear to be innumerable and unnervingly complex, God has called His people to pray and seek His face concerning the welfare of the nation in which they live.
The good news is this: You don’t have to cover it all—God will show you your part to pray each time you go to Him; He will lead you to that portion of the puzzle about which He’s anointed you to pray that day. When you start to sense a leading from Him, pray on it in faith—even if you wonder if it’s just you. God wants to use your prayers to bring about His will in that specific thing.
As you purpose to pray daily for the nation, the topic may change or stay the same; all the while you are learning to let Him lead—and all the while your prayers are being effective.
Imagine how much can be accomplished if each of us simply asked God to help us pray for our nation at some point during the day. That which would be too much for one solitary person to shoulder will be accomplished by the Spirit of God as He individually reveals to each one their part to pray each day.
One of my pastors says something all the time about the huge projects our church undertakes: “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
Well, how will we see the boiling cauldron that is the United States transform once again to a city set on a hill, bathed in the light and mercy of God? One prayer in one mouth at a time, multiplied by the multitude of souls in the church—both American and worldwide—multiplied by the hours still left us, multiplied by the immeasurable glory of God!
And that, my friend, is how we pray for our nation.
Dorothy
Read MoreDon’t box God in while praying for the nation
The last time July 4th was on a Saturday like it was this year was 2009. That day I had a very unusual experience in prayer.
You see, fifteen or twenty years ago, I started a personal tradition—every 4th of July I put aside some time to pray for America. Each year is different. Some years I pray about issues while other years I pray for various government leaders.
But on that July 4th in 2009, something a little different happened. I began like I usually do by praising God and seeking Him about how He wanted me to pray; I expected to pray for the president or about one of the many issues facing the country.
Instead, I couldn’t get the Scripture I had read earlier that morning out of my mind. It was Luke 2:41-51, about Jesus’ adventure in Jerusalem when He was twelve. Verse 43 haunted me. “…the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it.” I noticed a sense of panic gripping me—evidently I was relating on a very deep level to what Mary and Joseph must have felt when it dawned on them that their Son had been missing for an entire day.
I reread verses 44-46. “[They] went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. Then, after three days they found Him...” I was fixated upon the horror of discovering that your child was missing and not knowing whether he was alive or dead. Since I could not shake the sense of heaviness, I yielded to it as I began praying for the children and teens of the nation.
I found myself praying for every one of the nation’s children to be safe in their activities for the entire holiday weekend. I prayed against two main scenarios—little ones getting separated from their parents and teens losing their friends in a crowd. I also prayed in the name of Jesus against abduction attempts of all sorts—that they would be thwarted and for adults in charge of kids to be on high alert.
When I realized that I had prayed along this line for most of the morning, I honestly felt disappointed. I had wanted to pray for the nation, not kids, but I ran out of time and needed to leave for a barbeque. In my spirit, however, I sensed God correcting me: “You did pray for the nation.”
Monday evening, July 6th, I was in the kitchen making dinner as one of the local TV newscasts started. I could hear the teasers opening the broadcast from the set in the living room. “Tonight we will take you to a local church where an alert volunteer stopped a child abduction Sunday morning.” I dropped what I was doing and raced to the living room, waiting for the opening story. And this is what I learned:
A 10-year old girl was attending children’s church Sunday morning at the church I used to attend. A registered sex offender—a pedophile—had been skulking outside her classroom, unobserved. He caught her attention and motioned for her to step outside. When she walked into the hall to see what he wanted, he put his arm around her and started escorting her out of the building. However, just in time an alert volunteer noticed what was going on, and he abruptly demanded the man to stop. The girl was led to safety by another volunteer and the would-be abductor was arrested.
I sat in awe, taking it all in, and wept as I recalled my intense time of prayer two days earlier on the 4th, interceding against child abductions that holiday weekend. And I thought about how disappointed I had been with the prayer direction God had given me that morning—and how grateful I was that I had obeyed His prompting.
God’s desire is for every one of us to yield to His leading—however He prompts—resulting in prayers that hit the target. As more and more of us make ourselves available for Him to lead us as we pray, more and more bull’s eyes will be hit.
How can America be saved? First of all, PRAY—and that by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Dorothy
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