Sobering Thoughts

As I was trying to fall asleep last night a few thoughts were keeping me awake.
One being the election.
Another was the update that I had posted to this blog may have given a wrong impression...

I was not concerned for any meals for myself at the exclusion of Ray or his mom.  No, you see, my husband sustains himself with a good supply of chocolate throughout the day, so missing the evening meal is no great loss for him.  Then yesterday he and his mom had eaten hearty brunches, which consisted of much more than cool oatmeal and toast!  thus they were not experiencing low blood sugar!

Now to address the first topic that had me awake...
The election.

I have debated whether to write anything here, as I do not want to get political, but will seek to share a few words while steering clear of politics in general.

Recently, when I have prayed for my country a word has come to mind.
The word is "sifting."
I believe the LORD has been telling me that He is sifting the nation.
Kind of like weighing us in the balance.

Unfortunately, I think we have been found wanting.
That thought is very sobering for me.

Too often our comfort has become our top priority.
Whatever is expedient.

Thus we turn a blind eye to what is of real value.
Thus the reality of what abortion means, as an example, has become distorted.
As a learned man, who happens to be a scientist, told me,

"If the DNA strand that is found at conception was discovered on Mars, life would be declared to have been discovered on that planet."

Yet, when we want to eliminate that DNA strand from one's body, it is never referred to as life!

That is one issue.
A critical issue.

It did not begin there.
No, we started much smaller, of course.

Instead of rolling up our sleeves and getting to work, bit by bit we allowed the government to take over.
We like being cared for, however, we did not stop to count the cost.
And it is high.

How did this happen?
I believe the Church played a large role by dropping the ball.

The Church was the institution that cared for the poor and downtrodden.
It set up soup kitchens and shelters.
It came alongside those in need and gave them a hand up, not a hand out.
The government is much more adept at giving hand outs.

The body of Christ proclaimed life and hope to all.
Gradually the focus turned inward.
Many became social clubs and social clubs tend to become exclusive.

Of course, there were and are exceptions to this, but I am speaking generally.
The Church began to abdicate its responsibility and people began to look to the government.

In the city that is close to our home there are many churches.
How many are reaching out beyond their doors?
Very few.

The slippage went unnoticed for a while, as we had hit a prosperous time in our history.

In time prosperity was realized by many and they began to feel self-sufficient and enamored with stuff.
Slowly comfort became the goal.

Now many years down the line the combination of growing dependency upon government and the desire to be comfortable has come to a head.

So we have become willing to sacrifice life itself to maintain our comfort.

I have heard comments from many young people and am sad to say that many of them have no clue what direction this country is headed.
Their heads were filled with rhetoric for most of their lives and they are unaware that is just that, rhetoric.

My heart breaks for this land.
We were the greatest country in the world.
I see that image slipping and do not believe it will be recovered any time soon.

I will be pleading before the Throne on a daily basis, not just for the nation as a whole, but for each individual in it.
Actually, for the whole world, for our crumbling will take many with us.

Whether you see things as I do or not, we can agree that this land is at a pivotal point.
May God have mercy on us.