Itching Ears of the American

Nearly a month ago, my husband and I took some time to watch the ABC News Iowa Republican Debate anchored by correspondents Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos. Watching was hardly my decision, but my husband’s. Given the choice, I would have turned to HGTV or The Food Network. However, I surprisingly found myself growing interested in this question and answer process. Difficult and controversial issues were raised and I anticipated each candidate’s response.

What disappointed me most was that I realized, yet again, my inability to decipher true meaning behind countless words of grandeur. Had I been given the challenge to cast my vote for the next President of the United States upon viewing this debate, I would have failed miserably. Why? Simply because almost every candidate presented themselves to be a wonderful choice! Each made valid points. Each came across as having genuine concern for the welfare and wellbeing of our country and our people.

Truth is, I prefer not to bother myself with politics. Most issues I simply don’t understand. I know I could, and maybe should, invest my time in researching all the hot topics and backgrounds of each candidate, but I choose not to. These divisive subjects are just plain confusing and I feel inadequate when it comes to all things political. So I choose to let my husband, pastor, and other leaders I trust make those decisions for me. Sad, I know.

What’s even worse is that most Americans do this very thing when it comes to religion and the truth of the scriptures. Many of us feel overwhelmed with doctrine and incapable of deciphering truth, so we let someone else do it for us. We find churches and pastors teaching prosperity and the good life with smooth words and flattering speech, deceiving the hearts of the simple (Rom 16:18). We really don’t want to hear all the negativity that comes with judgment, right and wrong, and an eternity in hell. We desire simply to attend church, knowing we should, and we want to leave church feeling like a good person, worthy of approval from an all loving, all accepting god. And many will follow their destructive ways... by covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words (2 Pt 2:2,3).

While allowing others to decide our country’s future is irresponsible and terribly risky, allowing others to decide our eternal future is downright dangerous. And not just dangerous, eternally dangerous! Each candidate knows exactly what the American people want to hear, laboring tirelessly to tickle our ears and win the next vote. Likewise, countless churches and pastors are operating the same way, teaching faithfully and precisely only that which will fill their buildings and their pockets rather than fill your spirit with truth and the Kingdom of God with saints.

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. -2 Timothy 4:2-4

Yes, knowing the truth of God’s Word takes effort, and yes, sometimes it seems overwhelmingly difficult, if not impossible. However, we MUST be in the Word and in prayer. We MUST guard our hearts against deception. If you find it difficult to read, study, or understand His Word, pray, pray, and pray some more. Ask God to open your eyes before you read, as you read, and after you read. Satan is capable of stealing God’s Word right out of your heart and mind (Matt 13:19), but God desires for you to read and understand. However, we cannot understand without the help of God through the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:10-16).

If you missed the ABC News Iowa Republican Debate and are interested, you can get caught up here, since I really can’t tell you anything that was said L.

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Christ in the Chaos

The last couple weeks have been anything but orderly and structured. No, they have been something closer to chaotic. Most days I didn’t even know what day it was, and I was pretty content with that. We enjoyed staying up far too late and sleeping the morning away. Meals were “fend for yourself” and chores- nonexistent. The kids were ecstatic, the hubby patient, and me, well I have been just plain lazy.

It’s not easy to admit this, knowing anyone could read, and most of you would never allow your home to dwell in such chaos. However, I speak of it openly to you for a couple of reasons:

1. I desire to be transparent. I try to share not only the good, praiseworthy areas of my home and family, but also the difficult unmentionables that truly are a part of this family’s everyday life.

2. I suspect there to be at least one (probably more) wives and moms out there feeling the same way I do today, and a large focus of this site is to better enable us to relate with and encourage one another, knowing we are not alone in our daily struggles (1 Cor10:13).

3. Falling short, having a sink full of dishes, unswept floors (my computer says unswept is not a word. It hasn’t seen my floors), piles of laundry, ignoring bed times, and serving unhealthy meals does not affect our righteousness (which is of Christ and not ourselves), or our salvation (Eph 2:8-9).

How easy it is to for me to get caught up in self righteousness when all is orderly and under control. It is equally tempting to shower myself with self condemnation when I look around and see nothing but chaos. Maybe we can take Paul’s encouragement to the Philippians to learn to be content in whatever state they find themselves in (Phil 4:11-13) and apply that to our lives as moms, wives, and homemakers. No matter the state of my house, Christ is Christ, His salvation remains, and I am His.

With that said, I must get out of the hole I have stumbled into, and this is what I am intentionally choosing today. Chaos cannot separate Christ’s love or salvation already imparted to me (Rom 8:38-39), however it greatly affects my relationship with my hubby and kids and my ability to serve and minister to others. I will ask for His strength, cling to that strength, and move forward. He is a God of grace and unfailing love, however He is also a God of order and after two weeks of mayhem, I crave the peace which comes from structured order.  I suspect my hubby and kiddos do too.

If you find yourself in this same predicament, don’t let these feelings of failure hold you captive and immovable. Start where you are and move forward from there. If you are in sin, confess, repent, and receive forgiveness along with the grace to forget those things which are behind and reach forward to that which lies ahead (Phil 3:13).

Now I’m off. I have some work to do J How about you?

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