I hope you had a wonderful week-end to concentrate on yourself, your family and the family of God. As we hurry into our busy day and look ahead to a full week of activities, it will be easy to lose focus on the important spiritual issues we have discussed. It’s been proven that humans can stretch their ability to concentrate, but after a while we become weary. Yes, this election process has stretched all of us to the ultimate limit.
Like the disciples that couldn’t stay awake when Jesus needed them to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26), Christians often get busy with their own lives and forget the spiritual task at hand. It feels heavy and too hard to get back in the fight.
When we are busy, weary or distracted that’s the perfect time for the voices to ramp up. NO, you are not unhinged or psychotic when negative thoughts (voices) play in your head. I read that most famous speakers, leaders and writers all deal with negative voices.
Norman Vincent Peale wouldn’t submit his first book for publication because of the negative voices that told him it wasn’t good enough. He threw it in the trashcan and demanded that his wife not touch it. She took the manuscript in the trash can to a publisher and it became a best seller. Billy Graham has said that his worst regret was that he didn’t know enough about the Bible. Really? Billy Graham?
I had lunch with a very famous author. At that time she had sold more fiction books (over a billion) than any other author. I won’t break her confidence to tell you who she is, but we discussed negative thoughts. “Oh Debbie, I deal with that all the time. Every book I write makes me wonder if I’ve lost my talent. I have to fight those voices and send the book to my publisher anyway. I’m never totally convinced it’s good until it’s published and the numbers start coming in. We all have to fight those voices…..but fight we must.”
There’s been a lot of discussion about what you will do if your candidate doesn’t win. THAT’S NOT REALLY IMPORTANT! Don’t allow yourself to concentrate on those negative voices! That kind of thinking opens the door to discouragement, fear and zero energy. What is important is that you fight for what is right. Fight for your beliefs. Fight for the future you want. Fight for religious freedom. You do not want to lose because you became discouraged and threw in the towel.
When this is over the only thing that will make you feel better is to know that you did what you could for the cause that you felt was right! Just like Jesus taught in Luke 19, we are to occupy (work, live, witness) until he returns. We are not supposed to sit down and just wait for him. Likewise, we are also to fight to the very end for what is right – no matter what the outcome. Give it 100% and if that’s not enough – that’s all you can do.
After you’ve done all you can, lay the outcome at Jesus’ feet and trust Him to take care of it. I have this statement on many items around my house, “Good morning, This is God. I will be handling all your problems today.” Trust Him.
Your discouragement will escalate if you slack off and the outcome is not what you envisioned. Those determined negative voices will remind you with a barrage of “what ifs” that the outcome might have been different if you had given it all you had.
So, today, fight the negative voices and again begin your week of prayer. The polls don’t matter. The pundits don’t count. The friend that loves to jab at you isn’t important. The only thing that matters is that you pray, that you follow God’s leading for you, that you make sure your soul is safe and that you trust God to do what is best for you and America. That’s it! If you are doing those things then everything is going to be okay.
Dear Jesus, again, please forgive me of my sins and help me to live according to your plan for my life. I am so concerned about America. It’s been a wonderful place to live and I appreciate that I was born in this beautiful country.
For more than 200 years we’ve seen growth and progress. We have been blessed by your hand. Yet, many people see the dawning of lawless and criminal behaviors. Lying, dishonesty, greed, lust and evil deeds have become common place in our society. We, as a nation, need to change our society or we will be in more danger than we are now.
Your children are united in prayer today and we ask that you heal our land. Teach us to live as you would want. Touch our leaders – not to help them with one decision or another – but to cause a real revival in their hearts that will change every decision they make.
Shield us as we pray. Shield us from discouraging voices, negative thoughts and fear. Help us to trust you completely. Give us the energy we need to continue fighting for what we believe is right. Wrap your arms around us and give us peace.
See you tomorrow.