Elect

I have a speaking engagement this morning and my topic, since we are just a day away from the election is:  what choices do you elect to hold tight too?   And as I prayed and asked God to help me unfold some of the choices that we have in question the following thoughts came to mind.  We have a choice to be: 

1) faithful or fearful

2) trusting or doubting

3) understanding or judgmental

4) better or bitter

5) hopeful or pitiful

6) transparent or guarded 

7) involved or distant

8) love or hate 

There are two candidates vying for position in our lives. One bases his position on a misguided, diluted,destructive, self motivated agenda that is generated by subtle lies and is founded  on self motivated ideas and prideful cantor; causing chaos, stress, anxiousness and despair and disappointment.  The other creates His position out of Holy love, goodness, grace, forgiveness, faithfulness and truth that exemplifies an attitude of excellence and victory no matter what the situation is that is before us. There are stark differences and contrasts but we have to be able to peel the mask of the worlds' blinders off to see them. 

We have to make choices with every move we make.  Are we going to allow one candidate to steal our joy through the adversity that is before us or do we consciously give the opposing candidate the reigns to pulls us our of discontent and discord and give us hope.

I was at a function last night and saw a relative who I years ago had had a tuffle with and ended up compromising what once was a fun and wonderful friendship.  I have apologized times and time again for my infraction but forgiveness was not in the cards, and years of holding a grudge has turned to stone. He hardly would look at me and there was clearly no path for resolve. Oh gosh, my heart just cratered.  Herein lies a choice:  do I wallow in a mistake that I made years ago by something I carelessly said, and have humbly written and spoken words of regret about or do I move on and let God handle it from here on.  That is choice that some have a better ability to overcome than I do, but it is clearly a choice that I have to give to God and not try to work out on my own. Covered wounds do often emerge, on both sides, but only through God can hurts be dissolved and healing restored.  

This is the deal:  too many times we think we can handle something and we do take it in our own hands and try to fix it according to our own ways and our limited knowledge. But when we do that, we are giving either unconsciously or consciously the reigns to God's opposition and seldom will something positive come out of a tangled situation when the opposition is left to manage the outcome, because being positive is not an attitude of the opposition. This was a little and fresh example, I have much greater fish to fry and I am sure you do too, but my point this:  we do have choices as to how we respond to conflict, to unsettled grievances, to tangled situations, to broken hearted dreams and disastrous occurrences in our lives.  And when we choose Christ, we are choosing righteousness, his righteousness, sprinkled on us and through us as we obey his commands and live according to his word.  

Hebrews 10:22-24

let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,

The choice is ours in all circumstances.  Do we trust God? Are we confident that God can handle our stuff better than we can?  Are we faithful to believe that God can and is able to do all things, even the ones that seemingly have no possible earthly thread of success?

It comes down to who and what we are focusing our attention on! For wherever our thoughts have been guided to camp out, so lies the battleground from which our actions and responses are generated.

Look again at the above list of elected positions; the choice is ours, but that is not saying that if we choose God's way, we will not need a bucket of God's grace to carry it out his ways. If we choose the way of the opposition, is often times looks like the easier route, but it comes with complications and entanglements that prevent us from enjoying benefits of God's peace and joy.

We have the choice in our daily lives to elect positions that manifest goodness, and hope and understanding. God ultimately holds the reigns of our lives, but he gives us the will to make our daily choices and reap the rewards or consequences.  Tomorrow we have a choice, and can vote for our national leader according to the values and the direction that we want our country to go in. Thought the decision on this earth lies with the voters, I am reminded, in my heart daily, that God has the ultimate say as to who will hold the reigns for our country, for His purposes.  

God, Please bless us with a faithfulness and a confidence that when we trust in you, you will lift us us through your grace, strengthen us with your power, and cover us with your love.  Amen        

          

Praise God wherever you are and whatever situation He has allowed you to be in . . . His glory will shine through!