Pray for the Broken Souls

I have struggling lately with anger and frustration over current events in the news.  It's a bad habit of mine, keeping up with current events, because it simply raises my blood pressure over things which I can do nothing to stop.  I often want God to take His Elect home to be with Him and then overturn the earth and its evil inhabitants in permanent fashion.  But I have to stop and take myself in hand and remember that "but for the Grace of God, there stand I."  Only God's restraining hand holds back the evil deeds of human beings.  Note that I do not say Evil is a blind force.  It is not.  Human hearts without God are "desperately evil" (Job) and inclined to do even worse than what we see right now.

So what should be my response, the response of the Church Universal to the evil and violence of our day?  First:  To pray for the broken souls.  One of my favorite books has a character who is dying from a rare form of leukemia.  He says that he cannot go to where he is needed so his task in his last days is to pray for the broken souls.  To pray for souls so broken they can loot and destroy in "protest" over something and the public and media who simply will not look at the facts with a reasonable mind but must go on emotion.  To pray for souls so broken that they fire weapons from among children in order to make their enemy look bad if they respond.  To pray for souls so fearful in their brokenness that they fear people whose view of the law is "the only good cop is a dead cop" (which in passing is no less heinous than "the only good Indian is a dead Indian," a view voiced by some of the pioneers over a hundred years ago).   To pray for souls so broken that they cannot see even the moral law of God to be something of value that protects them from themselves.  To pray for souls so broken they can kill unborn, defenseless children.  To pray for souls so broken they value their jobs in ruling more than they value being upright and honest.  To pray for souls so broken they can leave wife or husband and children to try to find a shadow and a vapor life.  To pray for souls so broken they protest Vacation Bible Schools that tell children that all are sinners and in need of Grace.

Second: to work for the spread of the Gospel, for only the work of God in lives through the Gospel will check the violence and destruction.  Laws, though they can diminish some wicked deeds by threat of consequences, cannot change hearts, and changed hearts are the only way to justice and righteousness.

God has called us to these tasks.  Are we loving the "widows and orphans" or are we consumed with our own little world?  Don Francisco put it this way: "I don't care how many buses you own or the size of your sanctuary. . . I don't care if your pastor's super-powered and your program's always new.  What you need is love and truth. . . Do you love your wife?  For her and for your children are you laying down your life?  What about the others?  Are you living as a servant to your sisters and your brothers?  Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone?  Do the widow and the orphan cry alone?"

The Church Universal is made up of all Redeemed Sinners, those bought with the precious blood of Christ.  This means you and me, individuals, the ones no one notices, not just the leaders.  We can't save the world, but we can work for God's glory in our small corner of it, whether it's cleaning toilets or directing the church Christmas Play or being an elected leader.  We can pray for our broken world.  We can love broken sinners with the love of Jesus who never denied sin but charged the sinners to "go and sin no more."  We can grieve for broken humanity and pray and work for the spread of the Gospel into dark lives.  Even if we are physically limited to beds with terminal diseases, we can still pray.  Prayer is a vital weapon. Let's use it.

A New Chapter

I know it has been a while since I last wrote (not that it's a big deal), but I beg my few readers to be patient with me.  Our life has changed somewhat.  We decided to put our daughter into school. This opens a whole new realm of schedules, homework, and issues with which we must deal.  We are also putting our son into a two-half-day preschool.  I have begun a new job as Administrative Assistant at Strickland Security Solutions.  It's part-time and mostly from home, but it requires time I couldn't give if I were homeschooling.

Yes, I am saying it now: I CAN'T DO IT ALL.  As women (yes, I will generalize, knowing we aren't all alike), we are programmed, influenced, pushed, cajoled, shamed, and bullied into thinking we have to do everything.  And maybe some can manage homeschooling and businesses (a writer whose books I have enjoyed writes, speaks, and homeschools her children), but I think that is a rarity.  Daycares have sprouted on every corner in order to facilitate this "doing it all" mindset.  Don't get me wrong, I am not judging anyone who uses them.  I have myself in the past.  That's not my point.

My point is simply this: if you ever wonder if you alone can't manage jobs, kids, husband, homeschooling, church, room-parenting, and more, or if you ever wonder if you are remiss in your duty as a parent by not putting your kids in every activity you can fit into your calendar, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  Recently I was at choir practice at church, and I had to ask for help with some of the music.  Someone mentioned that I was probably the only one with courage to say I needed help when we all needed help.  I don't see it as courage.  I see it as simply being who I am, an imperfect human being who doesn't do everything right.  It doesn't take courage to say "I'm sorry; I did wrong."  It takes knowing and not being ashamed of your weaknesses and wanting to do better.  I haven't gotten there yet, but I'm working on it.

One more point and I'll stop lecturing.  For those of you who are believers in Christ, He loves you even when you do wrong.  My best friend recently sent me an article by author and professor, Steve Brown.  I hope he won't mind if I quote him.  "[I]t has, in fact, become a kind of reminder to never back off, to never compromise the gospel, and to never rob people of the good news that religion can take away.  You're forgiven.  God will never say that he's had it with you.  You are clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and when Christ died and said it was finished, it was finished."  You can't make Him love you less or more by what you do or don't do.  So if you can't do it all, do not stress over it.  The only one who can truly do everything is God.

So my kids will be in school, I will work part-time, the kids won't be every extra activity out there, and we will keep our family as together and happy as we can.  Now, I'm going to enjoy my Friday night Tiki Bar, and if you take my advice, you will enjoy yours, too.