God doesn’t care about America. He cares about Americans.
God doesn’t care about immigration, He cares about immigrants.
God doesn’t care about abortion, He cares about aborted babies and scared, pregnant women.
God doesn’t care about Republican or Democratic agendas. He cares about Republicans and Democrats.
I’ve been mulling all this over for well over 12 hours now because, unlike most of you, I didn’t get to fall asleep after the nauseating election process and results of the day. (And, for the record, it has been nauseating to me since the two front-runners were announced.) I got to try to teach homeschool, clean my house, get ready for a trip, answer questions from my neighbors, and keep my chin up. And what I finally realized is, God doesn’t care about America. He cares about Americans. The God I know and love made us -- all of us -- every single one of us -- even the ones who don’t realize it. The God I know and love has sent His Son to die for our broken, sinful, angry, evil souls. The God I know and love cares about America and its agenda only insofar as it brings glory to Himself and brings ALL His children closer to Him. He has seen and caused too many kingdoms to rise and fall to be all that excited about our little slice of earth (which is His, anyway.)
Now, I want you each to know that I love you. I love you if you voted for Trump. I love you if you voted for Hillary. I love you if you are a different race, nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation, intellectual or physical ability, or political affiliation than me. I love you even if you have posted hateful and divisive political posts (though that has been the hardest thing for me to forgive these days!). You know why I love you? It’s because I see what God created in you and loves about you!
Today, I chose to walk outside and love my neighbor. I happen to live next to two amazingly different Muslim women. One is a day laborer. She is praying like crazy that her daughter can pass her exams next week even though she hasn’t been able to be in class for 5 months because of the strikes in our area. The other is a very wealthy, well-educated woman who told me I was a liberal. Yep, you heard that right! She said that because I refused to call my other neighbor who works in my house my ‘servant.’ “She’s much more of a sister to me. I could never call her my servant.” Well, there you have it. Me and my 7 yards of fabric and Bible reading . . . liberal because I’m seeing my neighbors as my family.
We’ve all got our panties in a bunch talking about how America is going down the tubes depending on who wins and what they do with it. Well, news flash. It’s going down the tubes. To be precise, according to the Bible (by the way, I love you if you don’t trust in the Bible), all of the created world is going up in flames one day and God will make a new heaven and a new earth. So, let’s pull our panties back down into their proper places and think about this. If the earth and everything in it is quite literally going to hell, why are we so hyped up about America? Are we even remotely as hyped up about the Americans that live across the street? or across the tracks? or across the aisle? These are the people we’re supposed to be hyped up about.
So, I want to care about what God cares about. I don’t want America to succeed, I want Americans to know they’re loved and forgiven. My agenda MUST be to love those least like me. Can we do that, Americans? I’m just going to leave you with a few verses that happened to be in my study with Chris tonight: Ephesians is awesome!!
4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Let’s DO THIS, Family!!!!
God doesn’t care about immigration, He cares about immigrants.
God doesn’t care about abortion, He cares about aborted babies and scared, pregnant women.
God doesn’t care about Republican or Democratic agendas. He cares about Republicans and Democrats.
I’ve been mulling all this over for well over 12 hours now because, unlike most of you, I didn’t get to fall asleep after the nauseating election process and results of the day. (And, for the record, it has been nauseating to me since the two front-runners were announced.) I got to try to teach homeschool, clean my house, get ready for a trip, answer questions from my neighbors, and keep my chin up. And what I finally realized is, God doesn’t care about America. He cares about Americans. The God I know and love made us -- all of us -- every single one of us -- even the ones who don’t realize it. The God I know and love has sent His Son to die for our broken, sinful, angry, evil souls. The God I know and love cares about America and its agenda only insofar as it brings glory to Himself and brings ALL His children closer to Him. He has seen and caused too many kingdoms to rise and fall to be all that excited about our little slice of earth (which is His, anyway.)
Now, I want you each to know that I love you. I love you if you voted for Trump. I love you if you voted for Hillary. I love you if you are a different race, nationality, gender, religion, sexual orientation, intellectual or physical ability, or political affiliation than me. I love you even if you have posted hateful and divisive political posts (though that has been the hardest thing for me to forgive these days!). You know why I love you? It’s because I see what God created in you and loves about you!
Today, I chose to walk outside and love my neighbor. I happen to live next to two amazingly different Muslim women. One is a day laborer. She is praying like crazy that her daughter can pass her exams next week even though she hasn’t been able to be in class for 5 months because of the strikes in our area. The other is a very wealthy, well-educated woman who told me I was a liberal. Yep, you heard that right! She said that because I refused to call my other neighbor who works in my house my ‘servant.’ “She’s much more of a sister to me. I could never call her my servant.” Well, there you have it. Me and my 7 yards of fabric and Bible reading . . . liberal because I’m seeing my neighbors as my family.
We’ve all got our panties in a bunch talking about how America is going down the tubes depending on who wins and what they do with it. Well, news flash. It’s going down the tubes. To be precise, according to the Bible (by the way, I love you if you don’t trust in the Bible), all of the created world is going up in flames one day and God will make a new heaven and a new earth. So, let’s pull our panties back down into their proper places and think about this. If the earth and everything in it is quite literally going to hell, why are we so hyped up about America? Are we even remotely as hyped up about the Americans that live across the street? or across the tracks? or across the aisle? These are the people we’re supposed to be hyped up about.
So, I want to care about what God cares about. I don’t want America to succeed, I want Americans to know they’re loved and forgiven. My agenda MUST be to love those least like me. Can we do that, Americans? I’m just going to leave you with a few verses that happened to be in my study with Chris tonight: Ephesians is awesome!!
4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Let’s DO THIS, Family!!!!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post. Good content and thought provoking. Thank you for sharing your thoughts as well as the scripture from Eph.
Thanks, Jan!
ReplyDelete