Sleep Well America!

I have to admit that I had gotten pretty tired of the same old stuff that I was hearing on the news for the last few months.  In fact, during most of the month of December, I took a hiatus from the news and commentary programs that I used to enjoy watching.  It was depressing and to me, my beloved country and all the wonderful things that I firmly believe that our forefathers planned for it, seemed to be quickly spiraling down the tubes!

It got to the point where I found myself seriously considering if freedom really is on the way out in our country?  Is socialism making a bold move into a part of how we live our daily lives?  And is the brazen deception, lies and daily doses of misinformation coming from a very vocal segment of our political leadership and mainstream media going to have the final word in my life?

With all those daily concerns bouncing around everywhere I turned, I finally went to the Lord in prayer to bring up my questions… BUT THEN… I remembered:

When Piper and I began our final journey together on this earth, when she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, we had a wide array of voices speaking to us… and many of them were not in the positive mode!  There were small but very loud and vocal contingents of individuals who not only gave us a wide assortment of reasons why they thought that everything we were doing was wrong, question our every move and accuse us of all kinds of selfish and unkind motives and behaviors, that were totally based on false narratives of our lives as husband and wife, as parents, as ministers of the Gospel and for our strong stand of faith in our doing only what we felt the Lord was calling us to do.

But you know what?  Our minds were already made up.  Our course of action was already set, and our thoughts, words and corresponding actions of faith were fully focused on the truth and power of God and His Word!  Scriptures like Ephesians 1:19 became our lifeline where we thanked the Lord and confessed as we prayed “that we would continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to us through faith. (And) That our lives would continue to be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through us…” (The Passion Translation – personalized) 

To be rather honest and blunt… we just chose to NOT LISTEN to what these very vocal and loud voices said to us.  We sought to stay friendly and respectful of them… but DID NOT yield to what we firmly believed was incorrect and harmful information for us to follow… mainly because it did not line up with the Word of God, of which we had made to be the captain and foundation of our plan in facing what was ahead of us.

Now, some ten years after the beginning of that battle, we face similarly troubled times.  With an array of very vocal and loud voices yelling at us through printed, online and broadcast media, along with political leadership, we are receiving a constant barrage of incorrect and harmful information about the future of our country.  So, what do we do?

I think we do the same as Piper and I did for the last eight years of her life.  We simply DON’T LISTEN TO THEM… but instead… LISTEN TO GOD and the TRUTH OF HIS WORD!  When we started our journey back then, we saw and yielded to a voice that was BIGGER and MORE POWERFUL than the negativity that at times surrounded us.  Was it easy?  NO WAY!  Did our actions pay off?  YESSIREE! 

Throughout the ensuing years we found favor almost everywhere we went, were able to procure the best of medical care for Piper, came across different kinds of benefits and other programs that helped immeasurably in paying many of the expenses of her care, and was miraculously able to pay thousands of dollars in cash for everything else without incurring any debt whatsoever.  And along the way we moved across the USA, bought our dream home in the country (and car!) and lived her final days, in what I believe to be, the exact fashion of faith, peace and joy… that she would have wanted it to be!

So now… as we enter into another year of unknowns, facing all kinds of potentially destructive changes in the life that we have been blessed to live in this country, I believe that we should choose to NOT listen to the negative voices but instead to the voice that WE KNOW to be BIGGER, MORE POWERFUL and MORE TRUTHFUL than any other voice in the land.  And through it all, with our obedience to God and His Word, to expect that “We will experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to us through faith. (And) That our lives will continue to be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through us…” and then splashes liberally onto others all around us!

Remember too, that Hebrews 13:8 tells us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (God’s Word ©) and what I have seen and experienced in the past… I whole heartedly expect to see Him do again… for you and for me as we continually “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and (then see that) all these things shall be added to us.” (Matthew 6:33 EMTV) 

So, CHIN UP! and FAITH UP as we enter into 2021.  Switch your focus from what the world is (literally) screaming at you and focus your eyes, your ears and your heart on the firm foundation and truth of God and His Word! 

And then we’ll be able to, as Mike Lindell on the all familiar “My Pillow” advertisements always says, “Sleep well America!” *

 

* (and believe me I know that commercial… because the dog howls EVERYTIME that it comes on!!! – I think that it has something to do with the notes in the jingle.  I’ve also heard of other dogs that react the same way!)