From My Perspective - - -

We have arrived at the morning after and what does that mean? Most of the Ballots have been counted! Approximately 115 million people are recorded to have voted! Millions of dollars have been spent to promote one candidate over another – one issue over another! Almost half the country will be disappointed by the result. Many accusations of “how they won” will be echoed across our land. But – what does all of this mean? Is Almighty God any less Sovereign today than He was yesterday (Colossians 1:16-18)? Is He any less powerful? Is He any less in control? Is faith no longer viable?

There are particular truths that are worthy of our remembering. (1) Proverbs 21:1-3, “The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. All a man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” (2) Hosea 8:4-7, “They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction…My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of purity? They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. The stalk has no head; it will produce no flour. Were it to yield grain, foreigners would swallow it up.” The affairs of man and state are important to God. When a nation proceeds without Almighty God as the sole focal point, He will allow them their choices. It is reminiscent of the words in Psalm 106:13-15, “ But they soon forgot what he (The Lord) had done and did not wait for his counsel.  In the desert they gave in to their craving; in the wasteland they put God to the test. So he gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them.” Basically, there are always consequences for one’s actions.

It would be interesting to know what Almighty God thinks the candidates and election, and if His physical presence was a reality in our nation – what would He say?  What would He ask? More importantly, would we be interested in what He was saying or asking? Would we have time for Him? Or, would we be absorbed in ourselves and ignore Him, His Voice and His Word? Henry & Richard Blackaby have written in: “Hearing God’s Voice” the following: “When God speaks, neutrality is not an option. A response is unavoidable, and the condition of people’s hearts is revealed in that response.” Could it be that the “Change” proclaimed and enunciated so often and so clearly is a change from being blest to being cursed; from being free to being enslaved; from being victorious to being defeated; from being among the wealthiest of nations to being the poorest; from being an influence in the world to being totally ignored by it?

Consider these things with me - - - and remember the cries of the Prophet to God’s people (Jeremiah 6:9-15): “This is what the Lord Almighty says…To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear. The word of the Lord is offensive to them; they find no pleasure in it…Their houses will be turned over to others, together with their fields and their wives, when I stretch out my hand against those who live in the land," declares the Lord. From the least to the greatest, all are greedy for gain; prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. 'Peace, peace,' they say, when there is no peace. Are they ashamed of their loathsome conduct? No, they have no shame at all; they do not even know how to blush. So they will fall among the fallen; they will be brought down when I punish them," says the Lord.” And, Jeremiah 6:19-21, “Hear, O earth: I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law…Therefore this is what the Lord says: I will put obstacles before this people. Fathers and sons alike will stumble over them; neighbors and friends will perish.” And lastly, Jeremiah 13:15-17, “Hear and pay attention, do not be arrogant, for the Lord has spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings the darkness, before your feet stumble on the darkening hills. You hope for light, but he will turn it to thick darkness and change it to deep gloom. But if you do not listen, I will weep in secret because of your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly, overflowing with tears, because the Lord's flock will be taken captive.”  Let us give heed and hear His voice today!

From My Perspective - - -

The time of Celebration finally comes to an end – the last balloon has floated down; the last bit of confetti is brushed from ones clothing; the Band packs its instruments to leave – the festivities are over! But then – The Morning After comes – along with the weariness of celebration; the hangovers and headaches; a reality that you’re in a strange room with unknown people; gazing and wonderment are also realities - - Then what? As in most “Morning After” experiences – time will tell us the “then what” in terms of what took place amid the celebration and euphoria.

When one is elected who responds to a challenge regarding “redistribution of wealth” with a scoffing and a scathing comment that the opponent believes “selfishness is a virtue” – that is a morning after reality. When Wal-Mart is unionized and “low prices” are just a part of a fading memory – that is a morning after reality. When the coal industry that accounts for 40% of our energy is taxed into oblivion and the “we will shut them down” and “put them out of business” – that is a morning after reality! When all taxes increase to cover the cost of checks for $1,000.00 being sent to the more than 40% who pay no taxes – that is a morning after reality. When Military Spending is reduced by 25% and troops are no longer supplied with armaments and supplies as they risk their lives for liberty and freedom – that is a morning after reality. When the swelling rhetoric and the manifold promises become just emptiness and more “government-speak” – that is a morning after reality.

The Minor Prophets addressed all kinds of situations. They had heard the swelling rhetoric and many promises (along with threats) from the leaders of their day. They had seen the emptiness of the promises and the harshness of political power. They addressed the people who were striving to survive the oppression, occupation of hostile forces, the loss of everything they prized and cherished. Micah was one of God’s spokesmen who prophesied throughout the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, roughly 777–717 BC. His message was clear in Micah 2:1-4, “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning's light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it. They covet fields and seize them, and houses, and take them. They defraud a man of his home, a fellowman of his inheritance. Therefore, the Lord says: I am planning disaster against this people, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk proudly, for it will be a time of calamity. In that day men will ridicule you; they will taunt you with this mournful song: We are utterly ruined; my people's possession is divided up. He takes it from me! He assigns our fields to traitors." Our “Morning After” will soon reveal the extent to which there will be reality in place of revelry, and consequence in place of celebration. What can one do on “The Morning After” as the reality of it all unfolds?

Consider these things with me - and remember that the Eternal God is Always Sovereign; He is Always in Control; He Always Accomplishes His Perfect Will. When a nation has chosen to Abort its babies; remove Prayer and Bible Reading from the Public Education system; legalize same gender unions and marriages; allow for Evolution to be taught and disallow Creation from being mentioned; to redefine our Foundations that we are a “Christian” nation so that now it embraces – Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, etc. – can the Eternal God be pleased? Will He condone what He condemns? Will He bless what He rejects and will judge? In the midst of the transition through which this nation has already begun to pass, we must remember that God is in control of judgment for the consequences of ones actions and choices. In Romans 9:15 through 18 (Exodus 33), the Lord speaks to Moses: "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.  It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh (Exodus 9:16): I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.” Do not lose your hope and confidence – we are still in the hand of our God Who is Always in Control and will do all His Holy Will.