What Might We Be Doing?

November 6, 2016

What Might We Be Doing?

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

    test me and know my anxious thoughts.

 Point out anything in me that offends you,

    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

Psalm 139:23-24

A recent editorial cartoon likens this election cycle to a root canal, an IRS audit, and a man’s dreaded annual physical and prostate exam. None are pleasant and you are very glad when they are concluded! However, before we finish holding our breath (and noses) until November 8 passes, and then try to get on with life, perhaps there is something we need to address. Peggy Noonan, a weekly columnist for the Wall Street Journal, addressed this concern in her November 3, 2016 column. In her column, she wrote about the troubling issues within both political parties; then she closed her article this way:

“A closing thought: God is in charge of history. He asks us to work, to try, to pour ourselves out to make things better. But he is an actor in history also. He chastises and rescues, he intervenes in ways seen and unseen. Or chooses not to. Twenty sixteen looks to me like a chastisement. He’s trying to get our attention. We have candidates we can’t be proud of. We must choose among the embarrassments. What might we be doing as a nation and a people that would have earned this moment?” (Peggy Noonan, Democracy’s Majesty and 2016’s Indignity – Published WSJ, November 3, 2016.)

It is my sense that too many of us feel like we are the victims of the establishment. We feel victimized that the only choices, with a chance of being elected are, as Ms. Noonan states, embarrassments. But we are not victims; we are free moral agents. We are called by God to own our responsibility, not try to abdicate it. What is our responsibility? Well, if Ms. Noonan is correct, and I believe she is, then this is a year of God’s chastisement; and thus, we are compelled to ask ourselves “What might we be doing as a nation and a people that would have earned this moment?” We are compelled to pray with the psalmist, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Amen.

The Word of the Lord to King Solomon, at the dedication of the Temple, is also very relevant to this year of chastisement:

Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land (2 Chronicles 7:14).

So what’s in me that offends God? What are my wicked ways from which God is calling me to repent? The beginning point in my discernment will be making a list of the major issues such as immigration, foreign policy, health care, race relations, terrorism, and the economy. (I know there are many other issues – this is just my quick list.) Next, I am going to take time to articulate my personal opinion, or position on each issue. Then, as best as I can, I will compare by position with the position I believe Jesus takes: WWJD.

My closing thought: Repentance is more than my owning the parts of me that offend God: owning my wicked ways. Repentance is turning to go in a new direction. Once I discern what is in me that is bringing God’s chastisement, I must embark anew on God’s path as I seek the life in Christ as my way of life.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.