Resolving to Search for Solutions

Well, it’s hard to believe, but "E" Day is only days away. Just think, some jubilant presidential winner will have a memorable, massive, mess with which he will get to contend. And the Dems are feeling lucky. With big banks in the deep freeze of debacle, and assets frozen by the loads, visions of the number "60" are dancing in their eyes. I guess they think that the American people weren’t paying real close attention to who presently has the house majority. As angry as most people are about the bailout, I will be very surprised if those in the House and Senate (who are up for reelection) who voted for the bailout will be voted back into office. If Obama gets in, (God forbid!) I certainly can’t see people voting for a Democratic congress. If he doesn’t, I believe that they will hold their position at best.

The person whom we put in office is going to have a task that, quite possibly, no other President in history has ever seen. Not only does the economy seem to be imploding here and all over the world, but there is a coming healthcare crisis; a pending social security disaster; and an unfinished war. All this while terrorist dictators, with their strategically placed suicide-demolitioners, pause briefly to note our choice – because this will be a signal to them about whether to aggressively assault us or to plan an ambush…again. That’s a lot for us to consider. Possibly more than any generation in the history of our country has ever had to weigh.

It is written in Proverbs chapter 9 verse 10 that the fear (reverence) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom। Yet we have a Congress that constantly pushes the boundaries with regard to ethics and morality, and forces their outrageous pet projects down the throats of the American people with total disregard and disrespect of the wills of the majority. One thing that we need to be asking is, do we just want change, or do we want a resolution to the issues that we are facing? Change can be good and change can be bad. And change that’s nonspecific is not only overly risky, it’s reckless. A resolution implies a workable solution. And since these problems have been looming for far longer than one or two presidential terms and are quite "bipartisan" in nature, it is realistic to suspect that resolving them will also take longer.

The above are tough things to consider. But these difficult circumstances should be raising questions in our minds about who we really want in such a presidential and congressional hot seat. It’s going to take something of a miracle to fix these inevitably explosive problems. But all things are possible with God. And He is more than willing to work through leaders who will acknowledge Him on behalf of this country and act with integrity. He is also willing to move on behalf of a people who will humble themselves enough to call upon His name for solutions…and then follow His ways.

…But the Greatest of these has Compassion

I had the pleasure of watching this year’s last Presidential debate with my husband this past Wednesday. It was one of McCain’s better debates, though I certainly enjoyed Palin much more। I really appreciate the woman’s wit. My enthusiasm about Governor Palin aside, there was one particular thing about Obama that stood out in a major way this past Wednesday. One thing that I believe really makes the difference between a true leader verses a counterfeit one.

All great leaders that history remembers well and in a positive light have this particular character trait। George Washington had it, Lincoln had it, Reagan had it, John Ashcroft had it, and I’m sure you would even be able to think of some people that you personally know of in your own life who are leaders who have it. It’s disturbing to me that there is a possibility that we could end up with a President who thinks that the American people are so cold that we don’t care and don’t weigh the importance of calculated, cruel, careless words. It’s even more disturbing to think that a Presidential contender thinks that there’s nothing wrong with these types of words and that they are, "…the stuff campaigns are made of". These facts came out about Obama when the debate moderator asked McCain and Obama if they could look each other in the eyes and say to each other the things that were being said in their campaign ads. And it was Obama who was of the opinion that the American people were not real concerned about "hurt feelings".

God help us if this is true। Because if it is, then we have lost our compassion and our love has waxed cold and the greatest element of true character has died in this nation. When we are no longer concerned about the hurting, then neither will we be concerned about the enslaved, the oppressed, the innocent, the widow, the orphan, the poor, the jobless, the hungry…and we will no longer be concerned about what makes a godly leader who cares enough to lead this country in a way that is honorable. It is written in Proverbs 16:7 that when a man’s ways please the Lord, that the Lord will make even that man’s enemies to be at peace with him. If we no longer have compassion, if we no longer care about "hurt feelings", even if it does start in the context of a Presidential campaign, then in the end, we will no longer have peace in this nation.

We are very blessed in this generation in that we really don’t know what it looks like to have a war come to our own soil. The closest we’ve seen to that is the 9-11 attacks. But we could certainly get a clue about what it looks like for war to come to our own soil just by reading what is happening in places like Georgia, and remembering Hitler’s awful attempts to wipe out the Jews and then take over the world. He wasn’t going to stop with the Jews, you know. And the only reason that he was stopped in the end was because our country and our allies stood up to him and our God delivered the victory into our hands. And why did He deliver the victory into our hands? Because we cared.