You are my Refuge

I know I am not the only person who is tired of the decline of morality and civility in our nation and in the world. Strong opinions thrown into a cauldron of tribalism brings forth an elixir of hate and violence. Not good! I feel pressure to take sides. We are so loyal to our guy, our team, our party, our neighborhood, our sex, our race, and our nationality. For those of us who profess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I think we assume that Jesus is with us — I mean, on the same side we are on. And this undoubtedly settles it in our minds that we are right. Our country is fractured. And the world seems to be splitting along lines that reflect some of the darkest periods in world history. So what is a person to do? Yesterday, I prayed for myself, for our nation, for the world and I decided that I choose to trust God and take refuge in Him. After all, He is good! That doesn’t mean that I don’t have opinions. But I desperately want my opinions to reflect the mind of Christ. (Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus… Phil. 2:5). Because God is Sovereign. And He is good! So since I trust Him and believe His word, I will try to show love toward those who I disagree with and even those who are disagreeable. Now that’s hard. But this for me is where the rubber meets the road. If He commanded us to love our enemies, do I trust that He knows better than I, why that is right. In my own strength I cannot, but with God’s help…!