I am about to take a very big risk. Those who know me know that I AM NOT a risk taker... so this is BIG for me. I'm also not one who enjoys talking politics. I remember witnessing family members getting into some pretty enormous political "debates" (more like borderline fist fights) at the dinner table when I was a child. I think partly because of this, I avoid talking politics most of the time. However... as many people do... I feel passionate about this year's election. Maybe not even because I love one candidate's ideas more than the other. I feel a need to share what's on my heart, politically speaking.
I just feel SO strongly that this man was chosen.
November 4th, 2008... a day that God has known about LONG before any of us did. He knew who our candidates would be and He knew who our next president would be. He knows the needs of our country. The biggest need cannot be met through ANY one person. The biggest need is JESUS. There are plenty of christian people out there right now who think our country is "going down" now because Barack Obama was elected our next president. I have listened to people speak to me about the results with a voice of panic. My question is... What happened to feeling confidence in the fact that God knows all of our days? He knows what lies before us and how every situation will be handled, right?
I am not feeling any panic over this. I have some conservative views, but I want to have MORE compassion because that's what WE ARE CALLED to have. I want to have compassion on my country and the many people out there who don't feel the blessings that I feel every day. I want to have compassion on this man who will be leading our country and his family. They have had to listen to christian people speak such ugliness about them... calling them things that they are not, accusing them of ideas that NONE of us can say are ABSOLUTELY true. We (as christians) are supposed to be the people who are the feet, hands, eyes and ears of Jesus. How does having such a poor attitude about one person (it really doesn't even matter WHO that person is, right?) exemplify this?
More than anything, I will be on my knees praying for our president and for our country. If anyone asks me what I think about the election, I will be brave and tell them my thoughts. I will tell them that this man was chosen. He was chosen by the highest authority and that authority has great things planned for the lives of the Obamas ... and even greater things for ALL OF US in this nation.
I love this song by Brandon Heath. It is my own personal anthem right now, and I pray that it becomes the anthem of many in the days, months and years to come.
"Give me YOUR heart, Jesus."
For clarification...
The reason I believe I'm taking a "risk" in this post is because as a christian, I have been made to feel/think that christian people ONLY think conservatively. I know that even some of my closest friends and family will be shocked to find out that that's not where my heart is. If you want to read more about this subject from an EXCELLENT christian author, I encourage you to visit Donald Miller's blog. Read his post that he wrote on the 4th. It's incredible reading!
5 comments:
Tami,
Thank you for sharing! I am taking a lot of heat for the same reasons. It's a sad thing when people believe what amounts to hatred. God is in control, and because of that, I have chosen hope rather than fear.
I came to work on the 5th of November and was asked how I felt about the election. To the shock of most, I said that I believed it was one of our countries greatest hours. God allowed me to live to see something that I believed I would never see, A black man elected President. The tears shed by those black people as Obama spoke touched my heart! The hopelessness that I have experienced as a white man cannot even come close to hopeless of those that I watched that night.
Do I agree with everything our new President stands for? No. But I have not agreed with the what has taken place the past eight years. Abortion cannot be the litmus test of our society today, as it has been for me the past 35 years. The Jesus that I serve does not confine His disappointment with societies treatment of the unborn. His heart breaks as well for those children who live in hunger and pain. His heart breaks for the tragedy of war. His heart breaks for many things that we choose to accept.
Donald Miller's blog that you spoke of shares my heart. I only regret that it has taken me over 60 years to arrive at where I now stand.
I love you Tami!
Dad
That was a great post. I feel the same way and feel like I have been taking a lot of heat, so I actually have been keeping a low profile about my vote. What I keep trying to say to the especially agitated ones is GOD is in control. I believe that regardless of who had one.
Angela
I meant who had "won". Sorry...I hate it when I type faster than I can think.
Angela
Yay!!! I'm proud of you for posting this!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!
Wow Tami! Risky is right. Just so you don't get discouraged, you did the right thing by posting this thread.
Dad
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