I SELDOM WRESTLE GOD OR FAST. A profile of my gut, which is swallowing my naval, would say “Amen” to the fasting bypass. But this evening I was typing an email response to a church administrator in Endicott, New York. I’ll call her Jane, because that’s her name. She was asking for one of our Casual English Bible® maps for the pastor’s sermon this Sunday. And I took her off track with my closing line:
Peace to you. And for heaven’s sake, peace to America.
That’s risky because she might have been someone voting for the chaos and candidates some people are supporting proudly or secretly.
She wrote back to thank me for an upgraded map I sent. She also said she liked what I wrote in an earlier blog about what we should be looking for in a leader. But she added that whatever happens, the Lord is in control.
My email to New York church administrator
Instead of telling you what I wrote, here’s the email:
Yeah, that’s true: the Lord is in control.
It’s also true that in this case, I’d like to be in control.
On the other hand, my family reminds me of mistakes I’ve made when I was in control.
“Still, please God don’t let us elect that crazy person.”
You know, in Bible times when folks thought something was especially important or dangerous, they fasted. I don’t really understand how that works. It feels like twisting God’s arm. Even so, I think it might be time, for me at least, to wrestle him through the nights from now till then.
Just typing this note settled it in my mind.
Thanks for listening. Send me your invoice.
God help us learn to love again.
Steve
My wife is clueless about this
My wife doesn’t know it yet, but we’re going to have a talk about how I might fast until voting is over.
I feel nervous and afraid and angry about what has become of us, a nation largely accepting of evil. Many of us can’t seem to hear its words or see its face. We don’t recognize it.
The man who wrestled God
There was a man in the Bible who was nervous and afraid and angry. Jacob was headed home, and terrified of what was going to happen to him there.
One evening, while alone after sending his family ahead, he encountered a mysterious man that some students of the Bible associate with an angel or God himself. Jacob seemed to think it was God:
“I saw the face of God with my own eyes, yet I was allowed to live,” (Genesis 32:30).
I don’t understand what warranted a fight. Jacob simply wanted the man to bless him. Many of the ancients seemed to believe there was genuine power in blessings and curses. Words, for them, could make things happen. Apparently the mystery man was going to leave and take the blessing with him. Jacob wouldn’t let him. They wrestled till dawn.
It’s a story I don’t get. Was it history? A dream? Or was it a metaphor for a man wanting a touch of God, a sense of God’s protection and power in this moment when Jacob felt powerless and vulnerable. He was returning home to the brother—a physically powerful man he had cheated and hurt. He could die there.
The mystery man blessed Jacob and gave him a new name: Israel. He lived and his family became a nation.
I’ll be wrestling God for a few evenings
I’m grabbing hold of God this evening. I’ll be praying for God’s will to be my will.
You got that right. I’m honest to God. But if his will is not mine, I hope he gives me the stomach for it. Pun largely intended.
I don’t want an evil person to grasp this kind of power. I want to see God overcome evil.
I’ve done what I could do out loud. Now I need to hang onto God until he blesses me.
And if he choses to rename me, may he not rename me Sue.
“Lord, say hello to Johnny. I still listen to him on Spotify.”
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During trying times, I usually over eat or over sleep, but I digress. I always looked at the story of Jacob wrestling with the angel, which we find out was God, as God intervening in Jacob’s life to guide him back on track. He would of never sought the promise if he didn’t have God to contend with! The problem with our modern day maga Christians is they have never had an encounter with the living God to wrestle and have God mold them into what God wants — they seek power, and like Jacob sought the promise with deception and their own schemes. Our hearts have become so dead that there is no angel ever present to wrestle with us! May God come to each of us…wrestle with us, break our joints, so that we seek the promise. The fact that there is 48 to 49% percent of the electorate voting for a tyrant shows me that the road is broad and few find the “narrow” road that is cramped and difficult. May God give us what we need in leaders, not what we deserve!
Thanks Wayne. It’s hard for me to understand the attraction to such an evil person. But I recognize the power of propaganda and lies repeated so consistently that they churn into perceived truth, like cream churns into butter. I understand that from history and from personal experience in people I have known who were drawn into personality cults and were lost to their families. Still, the attraction some Christians have to a person who is so antiChrist in words and actions stuns me and breaks my heart. They can’t see the evil, hear the evil, or smell the stench. It’s like they’re unconscious and on a Novocain IV.
Always love your spin on things. Thank you. May the Lord be with us all
These are head-spinning days. God help us all to choose wisely.
I voting for the candidate who is more likely to provide border security, economic health and fewer wars. The one who is less likely to sanction the murder of children not-yet-born.
I know, Greg. But what is biblical about any of those policies? The Bible doesn’t talk about any of them. The Bible talks about the character of the leader. And the character of your candidate is exactly and completely without excuse the opposite of what the Bible describes as godly character and God-appointed leadership. You may have the right policies from a secular point of view, but what is Christian about any one of them. Even the abortion issue isn’t mentioned though they were taking place in Roman times. In that issue, new laws value the unbreathing emergence of a life as higher than the value of the breathing human. Your vote is a secular one and has little or nothing to do with Christian faith. But it’s your right and your choice to vote any way you like. Just as it should be a woman’s right to preserve her own life and make her own choices about her body. I consider you a friend. But you got your vote wrong, I believe. I understand. I voted for Nixon.
When has any candidate had “godly character” ? I do believe Trump will do a better job if elected. Under Harris I think we are doomed.
Hi Teresa. Godly character has a measure to it. For me, there’s behavior that automatically disqualifies someone from holding public office. For one, treason. I watched the insurrection live, sitting wondering why the president didn’t call in reinforcements. It’s because he’s the one who started it. For another, I listened to him brag about grabbing women by the genitalia and later, when questioned about it, defending his right as a famous person to do that. Third, he was found guilty of sexual assault in one case and another 30+ counts of fraud in another case. Still other cases are waiting to be tried. The Bible might put it this way: “In God ’s judgment he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country” (2 Kings 21:6). He has a long list of anti-Christ behavior. By any measure of decency and criminality, he belongs isolated somewhere by himself. Harris is an archangel compared to him. I know many people see him differently. But I don’t think they see him at all.
Hopefully Stephen, somehow our nation will get turned around and going in the right direction. My main concern is for my grandchildren, nieces/nephews and all the others growing up. Love to you & yours.
Thanks Teresa. It’s good that we can both express our feelings about this incredibly divisive state of affairs in our country without malaise toward each other. The fellow running for office is malaise defined. His name will someday become a verb no one will want directed at them. That’s my only prediction about this tipping point in American history. From a Christian standpoint, it’s shocking to see so many of us turning our backs on the Christin in the race to cheer on the pagan. People won’t understand this part of our history in a generation or two.
Trump has murdered fewer people than King David, Moses or the Apostle Paul. I do admit that Trump’s Christian “credentials” are highly questionable. I certainly wouldn’t want him to be my pastor. But just I want the most qualified surgeon for my daughter’s operation…even if he’s said some nasty things, I want the most qualified person to run a country. These last four years under the Biden Harris administration demonstrate that those two incumbents are not qualified. As for biblical values, failing to secure the border and allowing millions of unvetted people to enter our country is as irresponsible as leaving your front door open at night so that God-knows-who can come in to have their way with your family. It’s not what a good father would do. We are called to be compassionate, not irresponsible. Thanks for considering me a friend and for telling me straight up that you think I’m wrong. I like you…and your straightforwardness.
Thanks Greg. We could go back and forth contrasting the evil and goodness of the candidates and the worth of their policies. I think my list of objections to a candidate would be longer, raunchier, and far more disgusting than yours. I talked with the father of a third grader today who was curious about the candidates. She got on her tablet and researched them. Then she told her parents not to vote for your candidate. She said only that the candidate “hates people.” Her dad took her to the ballot box and while he was voting she asked, “Who are you voting for? The lady or the man? He shushed her quiet because she asked loudly enough for others to hear her. The dad whispered, “The lady.” His daughter…not quietly…replied, “Yeah, the lady!” We might not think a third grader knows evil when she sees it, but we would be wrong. The child isn’t programmed by slanted news stations or apologetic podcasts excusing the candidate. She hears him talk and she sees his character carried on the words that come from his mouth. We vote differently, yet we will remain bothers if I have my say. This candidate has already cost me friendships. Don’t say he hasn’t led us into war. He is nothing but war. Greg, you got this one wrong, but it’s okay. I brought the balance. Others have to make the decision for our nation. Peace to you. And for heaven’s sake, peace to America. May the Lord help us learn to love again. We’ve practiced war long enough.
I’m surprised Larry Anderson’s comment is no longer on here. I know it was long but he did an excellent job writing that.
He had a nasty response to my response to his initial query. I had to delete that. But he kept coming back with it. So I deleted both of his comments and my response. When you leave comments on this site, they need to be honest and civil. Or they are gone.
Scripture tells us that “He who is for us is not against us”. Mr Miller… I believe it is you who have got it wrong. Opening up the country to freely worship Christ and to freely spread the news of the gospel is the most important thing. Shutting down churches and imprisoning those who stand for righteousness and life is what we have had. Time to grow up and get away from the milk of the word and get into the nuts and bolts about how it forms our moral compass regarding social issues. Siding with those who refute the authority of the Bible and the scriptures is the real deception hoisted upon the American public. Blending into society instead of standing apart from it’s darkness is one of the most disgusting things that someone who claims the cross of Christ can do.
It’s said and done now. Thank God the new work that is about to begin. Hopefully, Christians who claim a life changing message will take advantage of this hole in time.
Hi, Glenn. What are you talking about regarding churches being shut down and Christians imprisoned for their faith? And how can you speak of a moral compass while defending such immorality? There is nothing of Christ or Christian teachings of kindness and compassion in such hatred that comes out of the mouth of the leader you seem to be defending. The side you defend is wretchedly evil to the core. I can’t understand the depth and power of lies and carefully crafted propaganda that can blind godly people to evil that spreads those lies. Please start asking for evidence when you hear someone say something detrimental to the other side. I do that when I hear criticism against the side you defend. Evidence such as a conviction on 30+ counts of fraud, conviction of sexual violence, and refusal to intervene in a traitorous insurrection he inspired and that I watched unfold on live TV.