| Whatsoever
Things Are True
by Dan Coburn Pastor, Emmanuel Baptist Church pastordan@mtida.net The Election of a Lifetime.. What do you do when your candidate does/says something you don’t like? When He/She takes a position you don’t like? What about when the “other guy” says something you really like? We usually do one of three things. 1) Switch Candidates, 2) Stay with the original and wear a button that reads: “Nobody’s Perfect”, or 3) Be like the bumper sticker that says “don’t vote, you’ll only encourage them”. Spiritual Switch: What do you do when God does something you don’t like? Untimely death? Broken relationship? Various and Sundry disappointments? Let’s look real quickly at a couple of Old Testament Heroes. The first is found in the book of Ruth, where a woman named Naomi followed her husband to a foreign land with her two sons and their wives. They were fleeing a famine. Soon, her husband and both sons were dead, and she was left to fend for herself and her daughters in law, with No visible means of support. Can you imagine the pressure? Anyway, she returns home to her native land, where someone recognizes her and asks: “ say, aren’t you Naomi?” Her response is staggering. “No. My name is Mara (which means Bitter) for the Lord hath dealt with me bitterly”. You see, her very identity became bitter. Then there’s David, in 1st Sam. ch 30. David and his army are on a crusade of sorts, and following victory after victory, have become so confident they are taking their families with them. Like a vacation? Anyway, David and the men are off hunting the enemy, when the enemy comes into their camp and takes all the wives and children captive. When they return, they go through a period of grief, which soon gives way to anger focused at — David. Vs 6 says: “the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” All of them had gone through the same thing, yet as they fell apart, David grew stronger. This would not make a great campaign slogan, but it is truth. You can be like Naomi, and literally become Bitter, or you can grow Stronger. A Faith that can’t be tested, can’t be trusted. In your life, Two things are true. 1) You can’t switch candidates, as only Jesus is perfect - John 6:68, And 2) You Have to Vote. God Bless. |
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