Hmmm. Funny story.

I used to believe that someone like a Senator, a Congressman, a President or other elected leaders were there because of some special gift of leadership they held.

Elected by the people, they were there to serve the people who elected them.

That’s what I learned in school.

In 1978, I had this supernatural experience.

I had grown up being told about the God that created the heavens and the earth.

Every Sunday.

One week in summer during vacation Bible School.

A couple of hours a day for a week in summer during summer camp after I outgrew Bible school.

When I was a junior in high school, 1969, I began to taste a bit of freedom as an almost adult.

From that point, I lived as if there were no God.

I believed He existed, but what did that have to do with me?

In 1978, He opened my eyes, my ears, my mind to a world of brightness, wisdom, understanding, and I came to know the One that created the heavens and the earth.

I began to read the Bible, for the first time. The words ignited a fire, a life, a purpose in me that I had never before felt.

I began to hear His voice, quiet little nudges that would push me toward or away from something, instruct me. “This is the truth….this is not true…can you see why, my son?”

I began to think more like my Father, asking for guidance in making choices.

Baby steps. Here a little, there a little.

This new relationship was not restricting, but was more like a magnificent freedom.

FREEDOM!

Sometimes I didn’t pay close attention to the nudges.

I would always, later, regret the choice not to follow them.

I would lose that sense of freedom.

All this is to say, these nudges still come.

Sometimes, I get the sense that something is not quite right in what I (we) are being told by these elected and “qualified” leaders, and the experts that are speaking to me (us).

PANDEMIC!

After years of watching the television news devolve into a method of lying to achieve a hidden agenda, of watching the country I live in become what seems to be irreparably split with little or no hope of regaining any sort of unified understanding, the pandemic arrives.

FEAR!

Now, I live in a world that is divided by race, by political ideology, by social distance, by masks (or no masks), by ordered isolation, by shutting down nonessential businesses….

I keep getting this nudge, “What doesn’t seem right, my son?”

We are being pushed to trust no one. They may be a carrier of the virus. They may be a carrier of white privilege. They may not have a mask on. Why not? They want people to die? It is so much bigger than what we are seeing.

FEAR AND FREEDOM DO NOT OCCUPY THE SAME MIND SPACE!

God created us with this amazing ability to fight disease in our body. He also numbered our days, meaning, that He has a plan for each one of us, that He will “nudge” us toward if we learn to listen to Him, to walk with Him, to tell Him when we fall, when we are afraid, and that we are grateful and love Him.

There are many voices in the world.

There is one Voice that tells the truth

God’s enemy comes to steal, to kill, to destroy, to DIVIDE, to make us afraid.

He seems to be accomplishing his task.

Jesus came to give me life, a life of abundance, of purpose, of joy.

“Fear not, for I AM with you.”

“It is for freedom you have been set free.”

The voice you hear will decide your life.

“In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.

Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war!”

Psalm 120:1-2, 6-7 ESV