I slowly creep through September, still semi-sequestered due to the continuation of the Covid19 challenges.
My soul sighs deeply, sucking in the dry air of an unusually cool Fall season.
The sweatshirt of the day is in order as I step outside to grab the morning paper and pop our flag in its holder.
Stiff breezes against the rayon stripes make the Red, White and Blue dash against itself as if it also were in conflict.
Watching the flag whipping against itself reminds me that only takes a few who have no understanding of our history and have no care but to upset and destroy the very parts of cities that we need to affirm and bolster. Small business owners, already on the edge of collapse, find their stores looted or even burned down.
I pray, “Where is God in all this?”
Yet, my soul sighs again and knows God is always with us, right there, in the midst of the fire.
God gave humans freedom to choose.
We can choose the right way to live or we can choose to seek distraction.
Those who choose to work hard, pay taxes, earn a living and stand firm in what they believe seem to be overwhelmed by a few fervent believers in destruction.
Too bad the few are destroying the very entities others in the crowd are trying to save. I came across this verse today, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act. He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday. Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” Psalm 37:5-7
That verse is hard to swallow when evil lurks in all those places where we use to see beauty, joy, sharing, community . . . Love.
Have we totally forgotten that God made us in His image . . . to remember the words from the book of Micah, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.”
My soul continues to sigh when I recall my own young adult years.
It was the “Weathermen” at that time who burned down an entire city block with their protest. At the same time Timothy Leary and SDS [students for a democratic society] were storming college administration offices and destroying student records. These student records could have been the ‘calling cards’ for many who needed proof of their education in order to find a job. A few had no clue regarding jobs or earning a living or having a future. They simply wanted to make a statement.
This current generation will do the same.
It is with sadness and deep sighing that these selfish movements are sponsored by evil adults who provide millions of dollars to upset meaningful, peaceful demonstrations that are legal and necessary to make a point in most cases.
It takes just a few evil elders to cause massive destruction of mind, body, soul and property.
It only takes one or two corrupt people with money, power and evil intent to tip the scales of society, to drain young minds of the desire to . . . “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” Some are working from outside this country to fund destruction, to fund bail for those who should be incarcerated, to fund the burning of buildings, to fund twisted information that is stuffed into young minds.
So where is God?
He is here, right in our midst, listening to those who call upon His name.
Today the National Mall near our nation’s Capitol was filled with repentant Christians, praying for our nation. They moved from the Lincoln Memorial to the WWII memorial to the Washington Memorial, to the African American Museum and other memorials as they continued to walk the Mall to the Capitol of the United States of America.
A few representatives at each stop prayed for our nation, prayed for forgiveness from God, prayed for restoration of that which we have allowed to be destroyed, prayed for salvation of a nation that has turned its back on God.
Millions of us who could not be there were able to watch via Live Stream.
We also prayed.
We who carry the name of “Christian” are obligated to live as Christ followers.
We are called to pray to God with our petitions.
We are also called to Listen to God, listen hard, keep listening . . . and then act upon what our Lord tells us to do.
By digesting God’s Word, waiting in stillness of heart, and then by acting as directed by our Lord, we can overpower the evil that is so present around us.
HOWEVER we must ACT. We must tell others about God’s love for us that is so profound that He gave His only Son to die for us in order to show us what true love really is.
LOVE is not a feeling necessarily.
We may, at some point, feel the joy and ecstasy of giving our whole selves to God’s work. t
However LOVE is ACTION.
We may feel discouraged, even become dispassionate about stepping in to help another know Christ.
Yet, this is our ‘calling.’
We who call ourselves Christians, Christ followers, Christ believers, have a job to do until the day we are no longer on earth. We must ". . . do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God."
We must learn how to love unconditionally and share that love with others by drawing others into the loving arms of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Yes, my heart is filled with September Sighs but they are good sighs.
I must take time each morning to study God’s Words, Wait with a still heart, Listen to what is murmuring deep in my soul and then Act . . . as Jesus would act . . . in Love . . . with a pure heart. I must move forward, as directed by my Lord, to reach out and bring others into that same love relationship that I have with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.
We who call ourselves “Christian” are called to pray without ceasing, pray with all our heart, pray every single minute of each day as we walk forward according to God’s daily plan for each of us. Our very being, filled with the Love of Christ Jesus and directed by the Holy Spirit, becomes a prayer to our Lord.
I invite you to “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your vindication as the light, and your right as the noonday.
Be still before the Lord, and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over him who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!” Psalm 37:5-7
Know Christ and make Him known to others by ‘being’ the prayer that we carry within us.
September ‘sighs’ become October, November, December . . . prayers of affirmation to others.
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