Dear Friends,
Six weeks ago, I decided to stop flipping channels
to watch and listen to the latest perspectives on the political campaign.
For the first time in my life, I purposely chose to become apolitical.
I recognized I was
spending far too much time talking, listening and worrying about the results of
the election.
I had witnessed
friendships being ruined over conflicting political views, and I was not about
to let that happen to any of my friendships.
As I listened to the lies
and falsehoods being perpetrated daily, and the hate being spewed by both
parties, I finally reached the point of saying 'enough is enough,' and I
decided I was no longer going to let my mental wellbeing be impacted by which
candidate was now ahead in one of the primary battleground states.
Some of my friends
couldn’t understand my sudden withdrawal from political discourse, since I had
previously possessed such strong feelings regarding the election’s outcome.
But having made the choice
to temporarily abstain from watching the political news, I found myself a lot
happier and a lot less anxious about the election’s outcome.
And when I read the
devotional below by Dave Burchette, I was embarrassed to be reminded of
the source of my political anxiety, which was none other than my
“Misplaced Hope,” which simply reflected my lack of trust in the One who rules
and overrules and whose sovereign plan will prevail regardless of man's desires
and intentions.
I trust that if any of you are like me, you
will find the message below helpful in assuaging any fears you might possess
concerning the outcome of our election.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom|
It is more than a little
disconcerting to see the division, anger, and hatred we are witnessing in our
country. I experienced a similar season in the late 1960's but this one seems
even more intense. Perhaps social media and 24 hour news exacerbates the
tension. As a self-righteous know-it-all back then I thought we would be able
to fix everything my parent's generation had messed up. We had great hope
that we would change the system and fix the problems. We thought that hope would be
realized with the right leader or a political party. In retrospect I see that
I was putting my long game hope in all the wrong places. The word hope is used about
80 times in the New Testament. The first appearance of the word in the NIV
New Testament translation pretty much lays out my belief that my hope is not
found in the houses of power. “In his name (Jesus) the
nations will put their hope.” (Matthew 12, NIV) Paul wrote about the hope
that I now have in his letter to the Romans. I pray that God, the
source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace
because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through
the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NIV) Real hope occurs when I
remember who I am. When those truths are my
focus I have hope that is real. I have peace that transcends circumstance.
When I keep my eyes on Jesus, I maintain a better perspective on every area
of my life. You do that by remembering what really matters. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your
Creator and become like Him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a
Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave,
or free. Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us. (Colossians 3:10-11, NLT) I remember a campfire song
from the Jesus movement that was, to borrow the approach of Law and Order,
“ripped” from the Gospel of Matthew. (Matthew 6:33) Seek
ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; Who (or what) are you
centering your hope on today? Hope grows when you seek Jesus and rest in His
Righteousness. Nothing else makes sense. |
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