Living by Faith and Not by Sight

I don’t know about you, but this week was a hard one.  Watching Congress count the Electoral College votes and the attack on the Capitol this week, I was angry at the disregard shown for our Nation’s Capital and the laws that govern the nation.  My heart broke at the signs of tyranny and total disregard for decency and the law.  For those who don’t know, I’m a civil servant.  I’ve worked for the Federal Government for more than 20 years to help protect workers from unsafe and unhealthy work environments.  Never in my life have I felt as disrespected for the work I’ve sacrificed to do as I did this week.  Nor have I felt as angry for the total disrespect to the troops who are fighting and working away from their families to protect our freedoms or the Black men (slaves) who actually labored to build The Capital so many years ago.  I literally shed tears at the sight of the unrest, then I shed tears at the loss and damage – to life, to our history, to democracy, to our faith in government, and so many other things that I won’t discuss here.  

Then I prayed and God showed me in the midst of my anger, that all of this fear and hatred and animosity and idolatry (yes, some have made the President an idol), it all comes back to the heart.  If someone’s heart hasn’t been changed by God through Jesus, you can’t expect them to do what’s right.  People must have a firm foundation in Jesus to exercise attributes that reflect Him.  What is in a man will come out (Matt 15:18-19)!  That’s why relationship with God through Jesus is so important.  That’s why integrity and character are so important.  Who are we when no one is looking?  The world got a glimpse of who so many were this past week and the first thing that comes to mind for those destroying property and having no regard for others is “lost”.  So, I pray for salvation for all those who have no relationship with God through Jesus.  If they have an encounter with Him, they will be changed.  There can be no other outcome.  

Have you ever heard someone who’s in the midst of sin say “God knows my heart?” as if their heart is doing something their mind and body are not?  It irks me, because not only does God know your heart but so does everyone else.  What you see, is what you get in most cases.  People may think they are covering who they really are, but they are rarely that good at acting.  We all need to be honest with ourselves, if no one else.  We do the things we want to do.  We make decisions that please us in the moment.  If we are catering to our flesh, we usually make bad decisions and cater to bad habits.  If we are catering to our spirit and we are connected with Christ, we may still sin, but we can’t stay there….we can’t continue to cater to bad habits and decisions and be okay with it.  The Holy Spirit who resides inside won’t allow us peace in the midst of it. 

When we decide to change, we do….not necessarily by ourselves, because we are not strong enough to do this thing called life alone….we pray seeking guidance from the Father and we make different decisions – we seek accountability partners to help keep us on track.  We do many things differently when we make up our mind to change our circumstances.  We learn to wait on God, while doing the things we must do to prepare for when He moves.  We start to live by our Faith that God will do exactly what He said, and stop living by what we can see in front of us.  

Now is the time to do that more than ever….don’t allow anger and fear to keep you living where you can only see what’s in front of you.  Now is the time more than ever to spend time in your Bible and in prayer and then take actions consistent with your Faith.  Faith without Works is dead (James 2:20)! Don’t sit back and watch things happen.  Call out what you know to be wrong – Be strong and courageous.  It may be a call to your congressman.  It may be a letter to them.  It could be to participate in a peaceful protest.  It may be to respectfully speak out at work or among friends.  God called us to be light and salt to the World (Matt 5:13-16) – He will hold us accountable to that.  We have to remember that we are in this world but not of this world (John 15:19) – We are His ambassadors.  We have a job to do!  Are you doing yours?