The Voting Booth a Place of Worship...Who Knew?

As soon as I turned 18 years old I registered to vote and have been voting as a good citizen of the USA since. I always considered it my civic duty and a privilege of my freedom. These were my thoughts on the subject…

               

 Voting is really just giving your opinion on the matter. All of the opinions of all of the voters, interest groups, and sometimes the opinions of the Electoral College (never quite understood that but their opinions count) are put into a big pot and out pops the opinion of the collective.  Those who do not vote I call “The Beatles” because they choose to just “Let It Be.” And so it is. Our country goes with the opinion of the voting collective. That shows us, the Christians, the spiritual, moral, and political temperature of our city, state, and/or nation. Usually it shows how much we all need Jesus. Snap. All finished in 24 hours.

Last Sunday the pastor of my church was preaching on 1 Peter 2: 13-17:

“Be in submission, for the Lord’s sake, under every human form of authority whether it is to the king (*or the supreme person of governmental power) or to the people in immediate authority over you. These people have the power to punish those who break the law of the land or to approve those who obey it. Because it is the will of God, live rightly. Obey your authority no matter how ignorant of God’s plan they may be so that they cannot find fault in you.  Though you are free to realize you destiny in Christ, do not use this freedom to disobey them because you live under His authority who called you to obey their leadership. Show proper respect to all people. Especially love your brothers and sisters in Christ. Worship and revere God. Properly honor your king (*).”

My Pastor Wade pointed out a truth I had not realized in all my years of exercising my right to vote. He said that the voting booth is a point of submission to God. It is actually falling under the leadership God has placed over you. No matter the outcome of the election, for a Christian, it is a statement of obedience and submission.

I had always detached this national freedom from my spiritual freedom. I had “separated church and state” because I had heard I was supposed to do that sooooo often. But for a Christian that should not even be possible. 1 Peter 2:13-17 says so.

What an “aha” moment! Now as I enter the voting booth I place my submission under the authority of God’s will for my leadership. I recommit my desire to follow God no matter the outcome. I place His will for my leader in His hands to control. I worship and revere my sovereign God who is in control of everything.

If I stay a little longer behind the voting curtain, forgive me, I’m just praying.

The voting booth has become my place of worship.

Closer to the Wall

Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to Him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:8

Last week I was a substitute teacher for a second grade class for a few days. Our recess time was 2:00-2:30 P.M. That’s kind of late in the day but neither the children nor I were not about to complain.

The other second grade teachers and I sat beneath the awning of the building and enjoyed the shade and some adult conversation as we watched the kiddies have some much needed free play. The shelter was a refuge from the heat of the afternoon.  I noticed that as the thirty minutes elapsed the sun crept further and further in and we had less and less shade. We would move our chairs back a little closer to the wall of the building as we went through the recess time. Finally we were as close to the wall as the chairs would let us be. I would lean my head back on the wall as a little head support and enjoy what was left of the protection from the sun.

As I enjoyed the refuge at recess I thought of the above verse and some others in the Bible that talk about God as our refuge.

My God is my rock in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my shelter and my place of safety. 2 Samuel 22:3

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my protection. He is my God and I trust Him.” Psalm 91:2

But for me, it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge. Psalm 72:28

Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; And
in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. Psalm 7:1

These verses and my imagination gave me a mental picture of the Lord as my refuge. Do you get same picture I do? Maybe not, but I’m a little weird like this. I have a picture of me sitting under the shadow of the Lord’s protection (like the shelter on the playground at school.) I see the forces that are detrimental to me creeping in on me (like the sun creeping in on the shade at school.) Then I see me scooting closer to the Lord Jesus, deeper into His protection, nearer to Him and His safety (like scooting closer to the wall at school.) Until I’m right next to Him resting my head on Him (like the wall in the little bit of shade at school.) See? I told you I’m a little weird. But I like this picture.

God is my refuge. He is the definition of refuge. He is my shelter, protection, help and relief. He is my rock and my wall. I want to stay as close to Him as possible.

That’s me scooting closer to the wall.

You can scoot closer too.

There’s always room for one more in His shade.

Sometimes Worship Is Messy

Whew! I’m glad last week is over. Have you ever had one of those days when nothing seemed to go right? And you’re late everywhere you go? And your emotions are all over the place? And even the things you feel confident in about yourself go horribly wrong? Yes, yes, and yes! No major disaster, but nothing to get you over the hump? Well, have you ever had one of those weeks!?! That was my last week.

Somewhere between:

 Business (work, work, work,),

 Disappointing news from my doctor about my last check up (everything that is supposed to be up is down and everything that is supposed to be down is up,),

Unforeseen events that made me late everywhere I went (I hate to be late,)

Mix up with medications (my fault,)

Things that have and are supposed to work in the classroom didn't (can’t blame the kids, they were just being kids,)

Daily headaches and physical aches and pains (I’m uncoordinated and drop things and trip and run into things a lot.)

                                And just general depressing thoughts,

                                                I was down, down, down.

I was reading the Bible and praying as a good little Christian should but not getting anywhere in my spiritual life.  Nothing. And I was examining my life to find the cause of the blockage. Nothing.  I was a spiritual mess.

The culmination of the mess had me on the treadmill, coloring my hair, practicing the coming up choir songs, and mentally reliving the past week’s failures. God got my attention with the words of the choir song:

God You Are God

Words by Josh Lopez

I will wait and be still, 

Knowing You’re here with me.

God, You are God even when I don’t feel You.

God, You are God even when I don’t see You.

I will worship.

 I will worship.

You are my God.

                                               

Suddenly The Holy Spirit thumped me with these thoughts... It’s easy to worship when everything is going great. The joy of the Lord and all that. It’s even easy to worship during the tragedies of life.  When I have no other place to go but to the Lord.  But do I worship when things are just yucky? Do I? Is that my first response?

So God and I had a worship time on the treadmill with this song.  It included a lot to sweating, singing, praying, and crying. But it was great! When I got off the treadmill and looked at myself in the mirror I had to laugh. I’m a visual learner and God truly gave me a visual. I was drenched with sweat. My make-up that was left was streaked from the crying. And the hair color had run down the sides of my face and covered my neck and shirt. I was a mess. It was God showing me that:

Sometimes worship is messy.

Sometimes it's not easy to worship.

But do I still worship?

Yes.

Would You Just Look At Her!

Why Doesn't She Do Something About Her Appearance? (Gym Talk)

One of the ladies in spin class shared a recent event that upset her. She overheard some “young thin things” in the locker room laughing and making fun of some of the other women there who were neither young nor thin. She said they were judging these women and didn't even know the particulars of the lives of the women.  She took it personal because she doesn't consider herself young or thin. She went home and shed a few tears because of the insensitivity of these young ladies. She felt she didn't measure up and couldn't measure up no matter how hard she was trying at the gym. She felt tried by their court and found guilty of not being what they thought she should be.  She was still feeling hurt about that incident. Because, like it or not, the only ones who can have 20 year old looks and bodies are 20 year olds.

This made me realize that we tend to criticize those who do not meet our standards. We have standards for weight, height, age, appearance, fashion, and, well, you get the picture. If someone doesn't live up to our self-made or group-made standards we feel free to fault find and disapprove. It’s all about how they appear and not who they are.

But what does God think as He looks at a person? If we are held up to His standards we all fall very, very short. We would definitely be in line for His disapproval and criticism. Even though we deserve condemnation, we don’t receive it from God. We receive love. We receive forgiveness. We receive the acceptance we don’t even merit.  And we take God’s love for granted when we put down others who don’t measure up to what we think are the expected norms.

Culture’s expected norms:

1.       Fit, thin, and healthy looking

2.       Good taste in clothing

3.       Efficient money management

4.       Correct comportment  in all society situations

5.       Proper manners, grammar,  and behavior

Now I’m not saying that this kind of conduct isn't impressive to me.  It is. But it’s not what impresses God. Let’s compare the above expectations with God’s acceptance.

God’s accepted norms:

1.       “Bodily exercise has a little profit, but Godliness has value over everything, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.  1 Timothy 4:8” – God cares more about your eternal soul’s health.

2.       “The Lord does not look at things man looks at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 6:17” – God wants you to be in a right relationship with Him. It’s more important to him than what you look like on the outside.

3.       “And what will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world and he loses his soul?  Is anything worth more than his soul? Matthew 16:26” – Your salvation through Jesus Christ is worth more than anything money can buy.

4.       “Now when they saw the boldness and confidence of Peter and John they perceived that they were uneducated and common men, and were amazed and realized that Peter and John had been with Jesus.  Acts 4:13” – Time spent with Jesus supersedes appropriate public decorum.

5.       “But since the Holy one has called you, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, conversations, and behavior. 1 Peter 1:15” Being holy before God is more important than being a proper lady.

I shouldn't even comment on someone else’s looks, clothes, wealth, social status, or tactlessness.   I should be getting past appearance and getting to know the real person. That takes time and effort on my part. Besides, God is making His plans for spiritual improvement not outward signatures in social surroundings. He sees to the very soul of each person and wants more than anything to love her as His child.

I think God wants to say of others…

Would you just look at her! 

Really look at her.

Do I see her the way God does?

                                             

The Second Most Important Person

We unconsciously categorize people we know and don’t know. Oh, it’s not intentional but it’s what we do.  We seem to have these criteria:

Family = I love them and they love me. They are very important.

Friends =I like them and they like me. I have degrees of importance for them.

Co-workers =They’re OK, but I could live without them unless they are friends.

Acquaintances = My effort to develop relationships is dependent on what they will do for me.

Strangers = They are not important in my grand scheme of things unless they benefit me.

   

People I don’t like = Avoid! Avoid!

 If I’m being honest with you, I’d have to admit that the importance of a person is based on how valuable they are to me. Some people give me unconditional love and security. Some people give me acceptance and stroke my ego. Some people will further my career. Some people will fulfill my need to be philanthropic and make me feel like a better person. Some people will encourage me.  And if you don’t fit these categories, well, avoid, avoid. I put my wants and desires first before I’m even aware of it.  As I said earlier, “If I’m being honest with you…” Most times I don’t want to admit that about myself. I’d like to have spiritual and altruistic motives but it doesn't always get to the subconscious level. Maybe you can admit that to. I think it goes back to our original sin nature which is; me, me, and more me!

Jesus said that it all comes down to two overriding life philosophies. (Matthew 22:35-39)

The first life philosophy is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul and mind. Love God without putting conditions on Him. Love Him because He is. Love Him with all of your emotion. Love Him with all your inner self that no one sees but God and you. Love Him with all of your conscious and unconscious thoughts. There is no room for you in this command. Jesus said that it is the greatest command.  Your love for God takes priority over everything.

The second life philosophy is to love everyone around you with the same affection you have for yourself. There are no degrees of how much more you like one person over the other.  There is no subconscious categorization.  There’s just the command to love.

Now, I did say that these are overriding life philosophies. If we just go to “default,” we’ll go to loving ourselves every time.  We have to submit to the Holy Spirit and let Him push the “override” button. We have to look at every one through Jesus’ love-colored glasses.

I like the way my Sunday-School teacher said it.

“The most important person in your life is God.

The second most important person is

the next person you see.”