If you're like me, you didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Whether you were celebrating the victory of re-election or mourning the loss of the other candidate those precious lost hours of sleep will never return. My thoughts on the election have been posted on Facebook and I won't go back and rehash that except to say that in America, we have been granted the right to vote for all people - not just some and not just those who agree with our principles. In America, we still have the freedom to worship in our churches without fear of the government holding our pastors at gunpoint to say what they want said. In America, we still have the freedom to speak our minds whether we are in the press or just a person. Today, we still have the right to keep and bear arms and protect our families and our children have the right to a free education even though free isn't really without cost. We still have the greatest military in the world and we are a people of great innovation.
As I awoke this morning, the Lord showed me a picture of a pool surrounded by rocks. It was clear from the top but murky on the bottom. I was walking with a friend down toward the pool when a big sheep came beside me and slipped on the rock and fell head first into the water. She couldn't figure out how to come up and she began floundering and fighting the water. She was partially black and partially white. Her head was small but her body was bloated and her legs were thin and fragile. I stood on the rock when she fell but when I saw her floundering, I couldn't help but want to rescue her. I walked over to her and put my hands under her head and pushed her legs away from me so she wouldn't kick me away in her panic. As I held her head, she began to relax and let her body float to the surface. When she got to the surface I was able to guide her in turning her over and she was able to get her balance and walk out of the shallow pool. Yes, once she calmed down she realized that the pool wasn't all that deep and she could still stand and walk out of her dilemma.
Isn't that they way we are sometimes? We stumble into circumstances and panic when things don't go the way we think they should. Or we get so excited in our circumstances that we lose our balance and direction. I think that's what God was showing me to share with you all today. Lift up your heads - get them on straight and calm down. Look up and let God lead you so that you can stand again. When the waters around you calm, and the clouds clear, put your feet back down and stand on the Rock of your salvation - Jesus Christ and the truth of His Word and then keep walking. Walk on out of it just like that sheep did.
If you are celebrating a victory today, enjoy it for a season. But don't get so caught up in the celebration that you lose your effective witness to others. Remember that Jesus is truly our King. If you are mourning a loss and fearing doom of our Nation. Give yourself time to spend alone with God and let Him help you sort this thing out. Remember, Jesus is truly our King. God raises up leaders and brings them down too -- He can also restore nations that have lost their first love.
Be willing to bow the knee and give honor to God's will for this country whether it brings more suffering or draws us closer to God or prosperity flows and good things begin to happen. The Great Depression brought about some of the greatest innovators of our time and once people figured out a way to survive their circumstances, America's greatest generation rose up out of the ashes. Let that be a lesson to all of us in these scary economic times. Stop blaming others for our circumstances and do something about it...it may not be the easy way or the road most traveled, but if God is leading you there, He will see you through there, too. What could have been a 10 day journey to freedom for the Israelites took 40 years because of their unbelief and some didn't make it because of their unbelief.
Christians, we are called to be salt and light -- do your part today and flavor and illuminate your world. I love you so much!! Be blessed in the Name of Jesus. Amy
