What I Want for This Nation

As I type this, we're about two hours away from fireworks and the celebration of our nation's 238th year. I've been thinking today, asking myself, "How should I pray for this nation? What does God want for our country?" I think I have at least part of an answer.

There's been an old car parked on our church's parking lot for several days. Someone had car trouble, and that's as far as he got. It's a vehicle that has seen better days. One night early this week, as I headed into the church facility for a meeting, I saw two guys working on the car; a young man who was the owner, and someone he'd brought to help. Late for the meeting, I went by them at a distance in and a hurry, but I did get a look at the young man's face. Clearly he was distressed, and hoping he could move the car off our lot. He is a different ethnicity than most of the people who attend worship at our place, and he is considerably under the average income of our crowd. His car does not fit in with the bulk of those that will be parked around it on any given Sunday. His discomfort and embarrassment were evident, so I waved and smiled as I headed for the north end of the building.

The next morning when I came past the car, there was a handwritten note on one of the windshield wipers. It read something like, "I'm sorry. I'm trying to move my car off your lot as soon as possible." That kind of broke my heart. So I scribbled at the bottom of the sheet, "Don't worry about it. You're welcome here."

My prayer for this nation is that gatherings of Jesus-followers throughout this land create an environment in which people like him know they are valued, welcomed, and safe - not just in our parking lots, but in our hearts. I pray for environments in which a child of God like the car owner would not feel the discomfort and need to write such notes. I pray for a day when such presumed differences will not be noticed or tolerated. I pray for the moment that this young man knows that he is worth the life, death, resurrection, and return of the Son of God, every bit as much as the folks in the building into whose parking lot his old car limped.

That's my prayer for our country this day. What's yours? Happy 4th, and I'll see you around the next bend.

God Is Already At Work

One of the greatest truths I've ever learned is that God is always at work all around us. This might sound obvious on the surface, but a lot of us live as if we believe the exact opposite.

Think about it. We assume that if we just pray in the right way, we'll get God's attention. If I get the preacher to pray about whatever I need, then God will do something about it. If we can just get our church to do the right program, have a big revival, get involved in the right outreach, then we'll get God to pour out his blessings on us. Sometimes without even intending it, we speak and act as if we are responsible for getting God to act.

In fact, God is always already acting. Humanity came into existence because God was already working. A Savior walked out of a sealed tomb one morning because God was still working when everyone thought God had left. A hyper-organized, worrisome little Anglican priest named John Wesley led a spiritual dulled England in a massive awakening of faith in Christ because God was working even when John Wesley didn't know it. The very fact that you're reading this or any blog about the adventure of faith indicates that God is working in you.

It isn't a question of whether or not God is working. It's a question of whether or not we're joining in what God is already doing. I know these are concepts I've stressed before. I needed to hear them again whether you did or not. I'll see you around the next bend in the river.