MARILEE ALVEY

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

We think too much about ourselves. Every day, we are busy trying to amuse ourselves, to eat what we like best, to read what we like to read, to watch whatever television we care to watch. It’s all about us. Oh, occasionally, we will get a bit of the news, whether we want to or not. Then we can say, “I’m so glad I’m not like the people of THAT party….” It makes us feel better than, but we must remember that, whatever party you demonize, their sins and the sins of their leaders are no worse than our own in God’s eyes.

Imagine if I sat down and told you to pretend your kitchen table was a football field, and that the ends of the table were the goal posts which represented good and evil. Suppose I gave you a penny and asked you to pretend one penny was Hitler, then place the penny where you thought Hitler should be placed. You’d place it clear at the evil end. Then, suppose I gave you a penny representing Mother Theresa and asked you to place it on the place that best described where she was on the good and evil spectrum. You’d probably put her as close as possible to the ‘good’ end goal posts.

Here’s the thing: God doesn’t see it like that. God sees the spectrum as if he is looking from far, far away. As you move away from the football field, it continues to shrink. The goal posts and the line markers begin to disappear. To God, sin is sin. He doesn’t call one sin worse than another (unless you sin against the Holy Spirit, but that’s another subject.) It’s all sin to God. All of it. No one can boast. You are accusing fellow sinners, like yourself. We all share the same earth at the same time, and we all sin.

Furthermore, no matter how many cogent arguments you make, no matter how many ‘zingers’ you feel you have issued, they will do no good. Why? Because we are not given the power to change people. Only God can do that, but, often, we get in the way of His lesson. We can’t wait for God to do it, so we rush in. It’s futile. It interferes and it even delays the lesson.

If you grew up in a home with siblings, you already know this. No matter how you try, you can’t change that sibling’s behavior. Sometimes your parents, standing in on a daily basis, trying to enforce good behavior, reach some level of success by withholding something desired or inflicting punishment. They can change behavior temporarily, to a degree, but a real heart change? That’s up to God.

Currently, to Republicans, it seems as if the Democrats have ‘found Jesus.’ They talk of walking into the light, talk about love and unification, while, for the last four years they’ve absolutely verbalized bile in every innocent post they could hijack. They bullied. They mutated names. They picked on the entire family. The media helped. Suddenly, on January 20th, they expected the Republicans to do what they never could do. When our sibling does this, we know them too well. We’ve lived in the same house as him/her. It’s the same with this rivalry.

Our country is, right now, under contruction, just as we are. Making acid remarks isn’t good for anyone. It’s also pointless. It accomplishes nothing. It’s totally ineffective. Remember the clever saying that unforgiveness is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die? That’s exactly what we have here.

Here is my suggestion. Let’s allow our Heavenly Father work on us. Let’s get out of his way! We have our own sins to work on. We weren’t given the power to change each other. Step away. Stand back. See what Biden and Harris will do. God sees all and is in charge. Put it on His desk. Act like you believe that. Pray for your leaders, past and present. They aren’t perfect. Neither are you. They have lessons to learn. So do you. Step aside and look up.

The answer to being self-centered or finding fault with others is to look up, expectantly. What’s God going to do? This very thing has passed his filter. What will he do with it? I don’t have any idea, but I know he will guide and direct his children.

I only worry when I take my eyes off God. Once I look up, I know that He who began a good work in us will carry it out to completion. All we have to do is do our part: trust Him.

It is the true believers in each party who should be lovingly stepping across the aisle because we know Who truly is in charge. In Heaven, there will be no Republican or Democrat. No party owns us. Now is the time to show whose you are. Our God is more than able to straighten out this mess. He will do it with our without our help.