Facing Election Season

I always liked to go to my mailbox every day when I was younger to see what treasures the mail carrier would bring. The novelty has worn off a bit as bills and junk mail dominate now. Lately, I’m completely tired of the political ads that show up every single day leading up to an election. In Florida, we’re facing a gubernatorial election next weekend. Who will lead our state? We’ll know in a week. What concerns me more, where all politics are concerned is this: Who is telling the truth?

I don’t know these people; I don’t live with them day in and day out. I don’t see the little decisions they make. I only see what is shown to the public and what is reported by the press. And Lord knows I can’t trust the media.

So, short of traveling to the home of every candidate, what can we do to position ourselves to vote for the most qualified person, since all most people get is the inundation of political ads?

1. Pray

2. Pray some more

3. Do your own research. Which organizations support this person? By whom are they endorsed? What bills have they supported? Go to rallies or town hall meetings. If the candidate has a get together, go. We recently had a school board election in Orange County and a man we didn’t know who works with our organization was running against the incumbent whom we had worked with on several different occasions. Instead of just trusting that the man known by many of our friends would be the better candidate, we invited him to our home to speak with a group we included that evening to hear what he had to say.

It takes effort to be involved, but when I look around and see all the horrible choices some of the leaders in our country have made, I see the necessity. Political correctness is running amuck, common sense is anything but common, corruption is rampant. Change is necessary, but only if it’s in the right direction.

4. Believe that God is in control. Romans 13 says that all authority has been established by God and there is no authority that God did not establish. He is ultimately in charge and He’s got this.

Now get out there and vote!

 

image from: http://www.littlestuff.co.uk

Shelter

These are the things I find comforting:
My husband’s arms
My house on a stormy day
My slippers when my feet are cold
But mostly, no matter what, that God is in control. That’s very comforting.

Bad things happen. That’s a reality of life. Bad things happen to good people. That’s just a fact. It’s a sinful world. People
make bad choices, and we suffer the consequences of that. I have a friend whose son got drunk, drove, and seriously injured someone in an accident he caused. He has cut off all ties to his dad because he doesn’t want to be preached to. That’s very sad. And hard. But God is in control.

David and I miscarried three babies. How bad is that? I lost both of my parents within 16 months of each other. How much does that stink? Children die. Friends suffer from cancer. A faithful minister of the gospel loses his home. A family loses everything they own in a house fire. God is in control. And He weeps with us over our losses. But it’s a sinful world. Heaven awaits, do not despair. I don’t want to sound trite and say that these are light and momentary afflictions, but they are.

2 Corinthians 4:17-18 says: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Psalm 91: 1-2 says: “Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.'”

The shelter of His wings; the shadow of the Almighty. My God in whom I trust. I’m here for the long haul, fixing my eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of my faith. Are you with me?

Thankfulness list:

30. a 3-day weekend

31. the beautiful sites of America

32. freedom