November 25, 2020
Fighting fear with the Truth has been the battle of my soul (mind, will, & emotions) this week. My flesh has a mind of its own, naturally cowering in the face of uncertain, or unexpected, fast-paced changes around me. For the most part, people are fickle & unreliable. The 2020 election process confirmed man’s innate depravity, boldly flaunting a disclosed level of deception that is unnerving to most principled people. My spirit, renewed & secure in the Lord Jesus Christ, sees this chaos from the perspective of God’s throne. (Ephesians 2:6) This is the proper fear of God. His power & majesty & holiness demands my worship, thanks, & praise…in the middle of the mess.
My real-life daily mission is to live quietly in my soul, submitted to the sovereign will of God, all the while embracing the painful consequences of revealed sin & evil. Without sounding overly dramatic (not that it really matters if I do), Revelation is alive before my spiritual, & physical, eyes. It is blatantly seen & heard in the news. God has asked me to pray in a manner I have not understood before. To pray for His people, His church, & for His/my enemies. To pray for endurance in the face of adversity. To choose Him only, & always. In doing so, He promises that I will not lose heart. (Luke 18: 1) These words may sound trite or overly familiar to you. But they are not. This is personal.
I am often astounded & speechless when I attempt to comprehend the infallible, unchanging Truth in the Bible—the written expression of Jesus Himself—with my little “pea brain.” No matter where I am privileged to read in the Word, God proves Himself over & over & over. He does not lower His standards to appease my emotions. On the contrary, His faithful teaching lifts me up, & out of myself, in every moment that the Spirit bears witness to the Truth. And in mere seconds I am delivered to peace & freedom. Recently, I felt led to pray specific Psalms over our President & his family. David’s penned experiences were eerily familiar to those happening in the election. And to God’s persecuted people around the world. There is nothing new under the sun. All people are born desperately incomplete & need a rescuing Redeemer. Whether they want to admit it, or not, is irrelevant. God says it is so.
God is not haphazard in His dealings with us. Unlike us, He does not make mistakes that require fixing. He does not second-guess His unfolding plan from Genesis to Revelation. My Father does not do things halfway. He is not silent nor is He unloving in His correction. He does not conform to me, in my most needy state, so that I feel better. Rather, He works the Truth into me, conforming me more & more to His holiness. His love does not ever compromise & this fact is my everyday comfort. The victory of the resurrected life of Christ-in-me is the Truth…the whole Truth…& nothing but the Truth.
My honey used to say to our girls, “If you don’t trust, you rust.” When I am fully satisfied in Christ’s victory, I live trusting. When I look to my own resources, or those of other people, to feel secure, I live rusting & dissatisfied. It’s impossible to trust God with everything in your life if you don’t admit that people will fail you. He does not change His mind. People do. YOU DO. From God’s point of view, perhaps I should rename this blog Election Protection. Because for those who have received the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is the reality the guides our lives. “And He shall be the stability of your times, a wealth of salvation, wisdom, & knowledge; the fear of the Lord is his treasure. (Isaiah 33:6)
