Today's Devotional Thought
October 13, 2016 by Rachel Piferi
November 9th
The Lord woke me up very early this morning. And, I love mornings when He does that. Mornings when you are so wide awake, several hours before you're supposed to get up, and you just know it is the Lord inviting you to have a few more moments with Him to start your day.
The house was so quiet and it was just Jesus and me talking through some things.
As I was spending time with Him, my mind wandered to all of the events of the past week. If your Facebook feed is anything like mine, it is full of comments, blogs, and memes about the election. If your friend group is like mine, you have a mixture of thoughts and opinions displayed.
And if your heart is anything like mine, you are likely filled with grief over where we find ourselves politically. I'll be honest, my soul is deeply grieved by what I hear and see on the political stage. Most in my circle think both candidates have their unsavory qualities and are just trying to decide which unsavory qualities are less bad for our country.
For fear that you think this is a political post or about to dive into all of the reasons you should overlook words for actions or why you should keep the Supreme Court in mind in an effort to justify an unsavory choice, let me tell you, it is not.
This post is really my effort to share my heart; a heart that feels so beat up by the state of our country right now and the choices before us. A heart and mind that are earnestly seeking God's wisdom for how to move forward and honor Him for our nation. A heart that despite this ache, does have hope.
Yes, my heart is deeply troubled.
I am troubled by where we find ourselves as a nation. I am troubled by the things I hear that our potential leaders believe in, have stated, or have done. I am troubled by the things I have had to explain to my children. I am troubled by the division that is developing in our political parties and more importantly, in the church, because of the choices before us.
And, I think of Nehemiah and the great angst he experienced when he heard the news of the state of his beloved Jerusalem. Nehemiah 1 tells us:
4 When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. 5 I said, "I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; I and my father's house have sinned. 7 We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I will gather them from there and will bring them to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.' 10 They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man."
Like Nehemiah wept over the state of Jerusalem, and knew how his nation had disobeyed the Lord, I have wept over our nation and this election cycle. I have prayed. And I have listened for that still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.
My comforter. My guide.
And today, may I share where I am with all of this?
I come to you today to share that after much prayer, my focus is on November 9th.
The day after.
You see, I will pray for our nation. I will pray for the election. I will pray for guidance from the Lord on how to vote. And I will cast my vote on the 8th.
And then, I will go to bed on the 8th and wake up to live out my calling another day.
You see, on the 9th, regardless of what happens the day before, I will get up and I will still read my Bible.
I will still talk to my Savior.
I will still put my headphones on and praise the Lord.
I will still talk to groups of women about the hope we have in Jesus and how we can all better love Him, serve Him, and be His witnesses.
I will still walk into a room of teenagers each Wednesday night and talk to them about their identities in Christ and the crazy big impact they can have on the world for Christ.
I will keep reading, keep telling, keep worshipping, keep teaching, keep sharing, and keep loving.
I will keep believing.
No matter what happens on the 8th, I still have the 9th.
And my goals, my desires, my call have not changed.
And yours haven't either.
The first century disciples didn't exactly have the most inviting political climate in which to fulfill their calling. And, we are living in a world where we don't either anymore. Who knows, maybe it will even get worse (Bible actually tells us it will). Maybe, it will get harder sooner rather than later.
But friends, it quite simply doesn't matter.
God still reigns. Jesus still rose. And I'll still go and tell.
Period.
It reminds me of how the book of Acts ends. We see that Paul is being held as a prisoner in his own rented house and is technically not free. But Luke tells us that "for two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ - with all boldness and without hindrance! (v. 30-31).
Technically imprisoned. But divinely unhindered to fulfill his calling.
If you are struggling like me with the political choices before us (or even if you aren't), let me encourage you to pray for guidance and then cast your vote.
And then go to bed on the 8th, knowing that the 9th is coming. And there is much work to do for the kingdom of God.
And that work can be done no matter who is elected.
God won't be surprised on the 8th.
And He will make a way for His name to be proclaimed. He always has. And He always will.
December