A story I had recently read came to my mind. "There was a queen once, who reigned in troubled days. And every time the country was on the brink of war and the people ready to fly into a panic, she would put on her showiest dress and take her court with her, and go hunting. And when the people would see her riding by, they were sure all was well with the government. So she tided over many a danger." (excerpt from Queen of the Home, by Jennifer M. McBride). As Mama in this home, I knew that today it was important for peace to flow from me. And yet, in those predawn hours, it seemed elusive.
I headed downstairs for my morning time alone with God. I crave this time with Him, as He opens a treasury of secrets and gold nuggets and offers them to me. Downstairs was cold, and I reached to close the fireplace flue, still opened from our fire last night. As I leaned to reach the handle, I braced for the cold of the stones on the fireplace hearth. But instead, they were warm. I pressed my hand onto them and marveled that they were still retaining the heat from a fire than had burned out many hours before. A truth swelled in the depths of my being: The hearth is still warm, though everything else is cold and the fire has long since perished.
hearth
noun
1.
the floor of a fireplace, usually of stone, brick, etc., oftenextending a short distance into a room.
2.
home; fireside: the joys of family and hearth.
Home. Heart. Hearth. I see that sign every day, hanging just beside our dining table. The image of the queen, dressed in her finest and riding out with her court to go hunting burned into my mind. I was to be that queen. And my husband and children were to wake to a wife and mama who was at peace. They were to reach out and find that our hearth is still warm...no matter how very cold the world feels today.
My time alone with God brought rest and peace, for when all is said and done, no matter who is in the White House, God is enthroned above all. I will not trust in war horses or election results or Presidents. My hope is in God alone. If we truly believed that like we say we do, we could walk peacefully and confidently into the next 4 years of our nation's life. Today we would be light in spirit, as we take on His yoke, which He says is easy. We would slip off this burden of our country and exchange it for His burden, which He says is light.
And then there came His divine correction this morning. Numerous times over the course of the past few years and increasingly as we approached the election, I've heard many people quote 2 Chronicles 7:14, "and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land." Praying and fasting became more active as we approached the election. So, are we not crying out now: "Why hasn't God heard us?? Why hasn't He healed our land?"
When we study the Bible from cover to cover, and when we study an accurate account of our nation's history through the years, we see very clearly that when the people are humble and are serious about obeying God, He protects them and gives them victory. And when they grow prideful and forget Him, He allows them to be defeated. Really...go do some digging into history and discover this truth for yourself. As we were studying both the Bible and the history of our nation, it became almost a game for us to guess what would happen. When we began to read about a person or nation who was not obeying God, we'd stop reading, and I'd ask, "Okay, so now what do we expect God to do?" And every time, the answer was the same: When the people were prideful and forgot God, He allowed them to be defeated, captured or experience some other downhill spiral. Then when we'd read that they sincerely turned to Him with all their hearts, we'd stop reading and ask, "Okay, so now what do we expect God to do?" And every time, He rescued them, turned the tide of the country, brought victory. It's easy to spot this in history books or in Bible accounts, but do we spot it right now...today, with the news of the election so fresh and new?
The question came to me yesterday when the election results were coming in on live stream: "Okay, so now what do we expect God to do?" And, sadly, it was fairly easy to predict, because we are a proud country who has forgotten our God.
Can we lay aside our party bias and see that He has not healed this land because WE have not humbled ourselves..WE have have not turned from our evil ways? Do we see that WE are the ones truly sinning before our God? It is far too easy to point our finger at the left wing with their freedom of choice and their definition of marriage. It is easy to say the country is headed downhill because of "them." But can we honestly humble ourselves and see our own sin for what it is? Can we see our double-minded ways, or does pride block our view?
Here are some things that may be very hard indeed to swallow, but press on... These things faced me, staring me down this morning...a naked, stripping off of all pretense. Can we see that we are quick to point at someone who claims to have freedom of choice after conception, and yet we claim that same freedom when we go to great lengths not to allow conception in the first place? I know we see the distinction and have good reasons...and perhaps we are right in this issue. But have we ever stopped to ask God what He thinks? Or do we assume we are correct in claiming freedom of choice over our own bodies? We point fingers at those in the left wing with a definition of marriage that is no doubt unbiblical, and yet we skirt around Jesus's definition of marriage in Luke 16:18, Matt 5:32, Mark 10:11-12, etc. I know we believe there is a distinction between "their" definition and "ours." We usually take on the "well, our sin isn't as great as their sin" approach. But how does God see it? We are very quick to see the sin of the Israelites when they created a golden calf to worship, and yet do we not put other gods before Him too? Do we worship the god of politics, trusting in a golden calf to be the thing that will lead our nation to higher ground? Could we even possibly see the danger of putting politics before our allegiance to the One true God?
Am I the Pharisee who says, "Thank you, God, that I'm not a sinner like those people over there"? Or am I the tax collector who beats on my breast in repentance?
And could I even begin to imagine LOVING "those" people, the very ones I point an accusing finger at? I love the Casting Crowns song that says, "Nobody knows what we're for, only what we're against when we judge the wounded. What if we put down our signs, crossed over the lines and loved like You did?"
Can we for just a moment remove the blinders of party bias and see things as God sees them? If we are honest, we will admit that we have double standards at best. This hurts and plucks at some very sensitive areas we'd rather not talk about, but if we sincerely want healing to come to our nation, then we must humble ourselves enough to face some things we don't want to admit. We are going to have to humble ourselves enough to admit our own sins (our OWN sins...not the ones of the "sinner over there" but rather the sins of this wretch in my skin), pray and seek the face of the only God (not our golden calves, no matter how shiny they may look), and turn from our own sins (the ones we may not even be willing to admit are sins at all). And, THEN, He will hear from heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land.
It isn't "THEM." It isn't a left-wing issue or a right-wing issue. It is a ME-issue. It is MY double-minded heart. It is MY finger that is quick to point at the speck in my brother's eye and ignore the plank in my own. It is MY hypocrisy that He turns from. It is MY pride that sickens Him. It is MY sin laid down, nasty and dirty, at the foot of the cross. It is MY choice to humble MY heart and seek His face. It is a whole country of individual hearts like mine, and He is waiting for us to turn to Him with all our hearts. If we don't, how can we expect Him to heal our land?
And, even now, before that healing comes, there's peace in His Sovereignty. And today that peace will override all the news articles and all the predictions of doom and gloom. Because my hope is in MY GOD, and HIM ALONE. That should be all I need...my sinful heart cleansed and fully surrendered to whatever He allows me to walk through...whatever pain or threat or change lies ahead. His grace is sufficient. Do we really believe that? He should be all I need. And that should be all my family needs. The hearth is still warm, though the fire has long since died out. And, with the threat of hostility abounding, this queen rides out in her finest dress and with perfect peace, and her family will sense that all IS well.
