2025-10-24
Good morning, Dear Ones,
Another member of my congregation and I had just heard a beautifully presented and prepared sermon from our pastor that dealt with a big elephant in the room—the awful divisions in our country that are tearing it asunder. She stopped me explaining she had been under pressure to go door to door with a petition to get voters to commit to a position on a political issue. She was having second thoughts about agreeing to do this and wanted my opinion. I told her that she should seek God’s advice in prayer before making any important decisions. It is not my wish to discourage people from being knowledgeable about the various positions on an issue or to be responsibly active in their communities. However, we must choose just how important God’s will is over any political, historical, or ethical decisions we are needing to make.
At this point in time with they're having been so many shootings, assassinations, and other kinds of violence, I feel obligated to share a vignette from that sermon that can give us all a reminder to ponder. The pastor tells the story of the writer, G.K. Chesterton (most famous for the "Father Brown" mysteries). Chesterton was asked, “What is wrong with the world?” His answer was, “I am!” What he meant was we humans want to take over all the decisions and actions, instead of going first in prayer to God. We are the ones who refuse to yield leadership of our lives to the only One capable of constant righteousness. It is utter chaos when the inmates take over the asylum! God is interested and involved with everything that goes on the world over. There is no question of the truth of GN 50: 20, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” He allows some awful things to happen, so that we will see the negative consequences of terrible decisions and actions to teach us what is not ok with Him. Case and point, giving political power over to people like Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Torquemada, and Adolf Hitler. We are supposed to learn from these lessons of history but sadly we ignore them.
When I was new to the NT, I read MT 5: 14-16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on the stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” It made me picture in my mind how light pierces the darkness and evil can’t be hidden. The truth is our life decisions and actions are far more complicated than that, but humans were created to learn and be transformed for the better. Because God gave some of His free agency to us, so He could know what we think, He also kept us from being puppets on a string that were controlled by Him. God wanted to know the truth of our use of our free agency. The question arose: How seriously do we take God’s teachings?
PR 21: 1, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turns them however he wills.” DN 4: 17, “The decision is announced by messengers, the holy ones declare the verdict, so that the living may know that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of people.’’ These two verses give us an inkling of God’s power. If we ask ourselves, “Why is it that every culture in the world has some expression of God’s power,” we must look at RO 1: 20 to understand. “For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So, they are without excuse.” If we question His promises, we should understand, 1 COR 6: 14, “And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.” As for the Gospel, Paul describes it so aptly in RO 1: 16-17, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For in the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed –a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” [HB 4: 2].
PRAYER: O Lord, no entity in the universe has Your power, the power to bring so much that is good and righteous to our world. The latter is fallen but You alone can save us. No being has Your wisdom or righteousness. We can depend on You whenever we need You, and that is every day of our earthly lives. Nothing is more sacred that being holy because You are holy [LEV 19: 2]. As we read the Scriptures, we come to understand that obeying this directive avoids trouble/chaos and gives us peace. Your Holy Spirit has told us to have love, peace, patience, joy, kindness, gentleness [humility], faithfulness, goodness, and self-control, which are His precious gifts to us [GA 5: 22-23]. We are so richly blessed when we yield to Your leadership in our lives and refuse to usurp Your power. These things we say in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We continue examining the idea of a fresh start and recap such things as mercy, patience, forgiveness, spiritual warfare, and prayer beginning next week. Surrendering to God’s leadership is the way to, “Be holy because I am holy [1 PET1: 16]. Remarkably, the fact is that when we submit to God, there is a unity that sutures up the awful divides we see in our present society. It takes courage and trust in God to submit to Him. The desire to annihilate those with whom we disagree will subside when we place our trust in God and pray often to Him when we are faced with controversial decisions. So many times, the concept of visiting the shelter under God’s wings often to listen to Him and pray to Him comes up in my mind [PS 91: 1-2] because it is the approach to our God, Who deserves to be the Leader of our lives that I believe will work to heal the divide in our society. Our God is the best Advisor we can have. Praise and thanksgiving be to Him!
Grace be with You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© All Rights Reserved. Lynn Johnson 2025.
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