That is what I want to say to Christ following Americans all over this country.
Just stop.
Stop putting your hope in this world. Stop believing that your comfort is a part of God's plan. Stop believing that your earthly success means you are doing God's will and therefore blessed. Stop attempting to spread the Gospel through legislation. Stop believing that one man or one woman has the power to save OR END this country. Most of all, stop being afraid.
Stop it.
Seriously.
The Bible is pretty clear on this one.
A quick Bible gateway search comes up with 42 different places that God's word says "do not be afraid".
Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, ... Duet 20:3
Peace to you, do not be afraid. Gen 43:23
And Joshua said to them, “Do not be afraid or dismayed; be strong and courageous. For thus the Lord will do to all your enemies against whom you fight.” Joshua 10:25
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? Psalm 56:4
And lest we forget about the New Testament
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27
Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; Matt 28:10
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I.Do not be afraid.” Matt 14:27
I could go on. And that is just a quick search of the exact phrase. The numbers go up if we include fear or worry or anxious/ I think the point is clear though. I think God is clear. We have NOTHING to fear.
Nothing.
And yet, every day on social media, around the water cooler, at the neighborhood pool, I am surrounded by Christ professing people who are crippled with fear over the events unfolding in our country. (And please do not think that I am not one of them. I struggle with fear too but God has put a word on my heart and I must share). We are terrified that the America we know and love is coming to an end. We are afraid of the political parties and their leaders. We are afraid of terrorists. We are afraid of black people and we are afraid of white cops. We are afraid of homosexuals and transgendered bathrooms. We are afraid of guns. We afraid of losing our liberty. We are afraid of losing our wealth. We are afraid of losing our comfortable lives. Everyone is afraid on all sides. And for those who are not professing to be followers of Jesus Christ, I say "do what you've got to do".
But you, you who state loud and clear that you believe that Christ died on the cross so that your sins would be forgiven, promising the hope of ABUNDANT LIFE here and in eternity ("I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10), if you are THAT person, may I ask, what ARE you doing? Why are you so scared?
Afraid
Terrified
Here is the thing, fear.... it is a sin. God tells us NOT to be afraid. When we are afraid, we are disobeying. When we allow fear to control our minds, we are not seeking God, we are not being filled with the Spirit. We are giving the devil a strong hold (& in case you are one of those Christians that does not believe Satan is alive and well, here is the first half of John 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy". That "thief"? It is the devil) and when he has that stronghold we are not living the promised abundant life.
People tell me that voting for HRC will be disastrous of this country. It just might. Really. She might be the worst thing that every happens to America. I don't know. Neither do you. But PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE stop repeating the line that "as a Christian it is our job to pick the candidate that best aligns with our beliefs and vote for him and this time that is Trump." Maybe the first part of that is true. I am not so sure about that either however I do not have the time to explore that here. But PLEASE stop lying to yourself that Trump best alines up with your "conservative Christian beliefs".
He does not.
The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior and there is nothing in Trump's past that lines up with "conservative Christian beliefs". That is as bad as women saying they are voting for Clinton because she is such a great example of a woman and a role model for a daughters (excuse me while I vomit a little in my mouth and stop to pray that my daughters will NEVER grow up to believe that it is okay to cover up, threaten and bully women who have been sexually assaulted by their husbands in order to advance their political ambitions).
Vote for HRC. Vote for Trump. Do not vote at all. I really do not care. If you have spent time on your knees, praying the Word of God and you can look people in the eye and say "I have chosen this candidate because I feel this is what God is calling me to do and fear of the other candidate has no basis in my decision" then I will pat your back and say good job. God tells us the seek Him in ALL things. So I implore you, if you are a Christ follower, stop being afraid and start seeking Him. He knows. He knows how this election is going to turn out and He has a plan for this world. That plan could involve a revival in America or it could involve some very hard times. Maybe that revival comes as a result of those very hard times. Only God knows. And He tells us quite clearly not to worry about tomorrow.
Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
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