Thoughts

I remind my friends the Scriptures say to pray and not protest our “leaders in authority”. I have always prayed for all our government leaders! Romans 14 and I Cor 8 highlight the need to be considerate of others’ consciences, even if your own conscience allows for greater freedom in areas of preference and liberty.

We learn from the past, don’t relive the past. It’s history! These are the moments we have to remind ourselves of SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLES. Our future will always be in God’s hands!

In Daniel 6, we are told that Daniel raised his window and prayed toward his “power source”. It says two things: 1) Daniel prayed to his God as before, giving thanks. 2) And HIS ENMIES overheard DANIEL PRAYING and ASKING GOD FOR HELP. Other than that, what Daniel prayed for is speculative. My hunch is that he also prayed for his friends in the government, knowing them personally, while understanding their 70 years of exile were not completed as he prayed.

BOTTOM LINE: As with everything, our God-changed conscience (like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) needs to direct our thoughts, decisions, and our prayer requests. God will meet our physical, emotional, relational, and financial needs, regardless of any government we pray for and submit to on a daily basis. Christianity can live under and be active anywhere on earth, no matter where we live; submitting to any style government and its rulers. Yes, freedoms make it easier to be a Christian, yet I REMIND US that Christians are instructed to pray and submit. Exactly what Jesus, Stephen, James, and Paul did! Yes, IT COST ALL OF them their LIVES. We too, in the world we now live in, may experience a high cost! God is able to give us persevering strength to all of life’s challenges we face!

Read Isaiah 40:29-31. God gives strength to those who HOPE is IN THE lORD. Waiting is never easy, yet it’s exciting and rewarding to watch God work! We used to sing a hymn, “God will take care of you”. It’s still the truth!