They're seeking... are you ready??

I mentioned in my previous post about how in the last 4 days, it seems more people are wanting to talk about the Election... but not about the politics but about its significance. This election has provided an opportunity for us all to look deep within us and to challenge what we believe. Whether there were biases about skin color or whether there religious implications to our votes. It seems that everyone has had to challenge something in this election. Regardless of who would have won the election, there would have been nearly half of the country that would have been upset and would have had to find a way to "live with the results" and make peace with the decisions of the people.



Just in the past few days these conversations have centered around several questions. More than once, I've heard people remark that they thought they would feel more relieved than this. When I asked about it, they said they were feeling so much anxiety before the election and thought it was because of all the media hype and constant negative campaigning going on. They had anticipated that once it was over, it would be all better. But it isn't... they are still anxious. (And this was from a few of my friends who supported the winning candidate!) The way I look at it is that we have not been willing to call the "anxiety" we were feeling by the right name. You see we are living in a battle. A battle is going on all around us between good an evil. Let me be very clear, I'm not suggesting one candidate was "Good" and the other "evil." These are human beings and we know that all have fallen short of God's glory. Yet there is a war going on between the goodness of God and the evilness of Satan. As the world's heart grows further from Our Creator's this vacuum becomes greater. How can one deny that things are not getting better when compared against God's goodness? With that said, I think it is important to realize that no election was going to end this battle. It will exist until Jesus returns for His church. I found it humbling how many people outside of the church have never really heard of this and I also found it amazing how calling something by its rightful name often puts it in its place. Evil is evil and can only be defeated by the Blood of the Lamb.

I've also been asked more than once since the election (and ironically never before the election) if I thought God would hold us accountable for our vote. My response to this has been to ask a question and find out what that individual thinks their vote represents. Most people will recognize that a vote is nothing more than an outward sign of an inward decisions or commitments. And then I ask, "Do you think God holds us accountable for our decisions?" This has proven to be an interesting question. Too many people in our world have never truly thought about this. But isn't it true, every day He gives us a chance to decide on things. Some our trivial and some are major issues. Yet each decision gives us a chance to demonstrate our view of the world and our understanding of God. You have a choice to show you're growing and learning with relation for God's plan for you life. So while I sense the question many are really asking is this, "Do you think some people are going to hell because they voted for a certain candidate?" My clear response to this is emphatically, "No. People are going to hell because they have never made a decision to accept Christ to cover their sins." God's Word tells us that. Yet we have a chance to show repentance and allow Jesus to change our worldview and ultimately our outward decisions reflect our inner commitments to Him. So, I do believe God will hold us accountable but it is not our outward vote. It is our inability to recognize our sin that He'll hold us accountable for. Yet I also know that in His Grace, He gave me a way to avoid my destiny by repenting and accepting Christ into my life. We need to be a people of repentance on behalf of our personal and national sins. This is what needs to change first before we have any hope of our government changing.

The other question I've been asked is this, "Aren't you worried about the future?" (This was more in relation to the economy rather than the election.) I cannot lie. I AM concerned. I wonder how many people in the world will go hungry. I wonder why we continue to take away farmer's rights in the US to use technology and modern production practices when we know that there is not enough food to feed the world with the current rate of population growth. I wonder what the world could be like if we would seek relationship instead of religion. I'm concerned that there are people who have a false sense of "goodness" and have not truly experienced God through Jesus. Yet I can honestly say I'm not worried. I know that my faith is secure in Christ. I recall the day I asked Him into my life. I tell others about it regulary. I know He is in control. I know that He has always protected and provided for His Church even in difficulty.

So friends, as your friends are seeking - are you ready? How do you answer the question, "Are you worried?" Where is your faith; in self,or in The Savior? Take care of your own response first... and then be ready because there is a world of confused people out there who are asking questions and need to know the Answer!!