Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. I met with the Author and Perfecter of my Faith with the Best Seller of all Times and a hot cup of coffee to give Him my Praise and my Thanks. I made a few Requests and tossed a few things at the foot of the Cross like I always do, but mostly my Heart was filled with Gratitude for the Peace and Protection over my life, my family, and this old farm. This view from my kitchen window put a smile on my face…it was like a hug from God after our time together. The stripes in the sky are traces of the jet streams of ones policing the skies to protect the world around me. Big sacrifices are made by the ones tasked with policing the sky, but nothing like the sacrifice of those Stripes of the One who paid the Ultimate Price for me. I don’t know the details of what goes on “behind closed doors” when I’m not looking….and I don’t want to know… but I do know that I live in the greatest country in the world and I serve the One who “scattered the stars in the sky and knows them each by name” …so I have no cause to fear at all! The Greatest Protection is there, and He never leaves the Throne. Hallelujah! Isn’t that the way you’re looking at this crazy world too?

It’s pretty amazing how so many people of Faith have the need to know as many of the details as they possibly can before they believe anything. Like doubting Thomas – unless you prove to them what God is up to, they refuse to believe it and they’ll write their own version of “truth.” Some people see God as a “show and tell” God, and if He doesn’t cough up the details when they want them, they’ll make them up on their own. Some people put their trust in another god…or a man with the version of “truth” they choose to believe in… and they ride the rumor train as fast and as hard as they can! Some buy into radical details shared by radical strangers and they busy themselves riding the radical train spreading their own truth as if it’s the gospel. For some reason LOTS of people can’t seem to kick their Faith into High Gear to that place where they Cling to Him much more than they cling to the world…to that place where spreading the Gospel is much more important than spreading their version of the news…to that place where lost souls are far more important than a lost election in the United States…to that place where they TRUST the Living God with all the details and where they’ll accept His Truth no matter what…good or “bad”…easy or not. Unfortunately, the stars and stripes message today is outshining the One Who bears the Stripes…and when that happens, it doesn’t make sense for us to believe that the Living God is pleased at all.

When Habakkuk pleaded with God to fill him in on His Plans, not only did God refuse to tell Habakkuk – he said, “if I told you what I’m about to do you wouldn’t believe it.” God has a Plan that was put together before the foundations of the earth and He’s not about to change His Plans just because we don’t like what He’s doing. He gives and He takes away. He brings Peace and He allows calamity sometimes. Although it’s possible to KNOW HIM intimately, we don’t know His Plans outside of what has already been written. But we DO know that “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” and with Him “ALL things work together for good for those WHO LOVE HIM and are called according to His Purpose.” IF we sincerely believe that… who needs step-by-step or blow-by-blow details?

I don’t know what’s going behind the scenes in America (or anywhere else) today, but I don’t need to know. No matter how many stripes I see in the sky…a sure sign of protection…I’ll focus on the healing Stripes instead…the Creator and Protector of all. After all, I Serve the One Who wrote the Book -and He already knows how the story ends. I’ll put ALL my trust in the One Who died for me…not just the one(s) who fought for me. I know that no matter what God does with the greatest nation in the world, He has a Plan…and He’s always Victorious…so, I’ll be sharing the Gospel with this lost world like never before, and I’ll be praying for my brothers and sisters to kick their Faith into high gear too…before it’s too late. The world needs Jesus…the world needs Hope. The Alpha and Omega…the Beginning and the End…is the Greatest Leader the world has ever known, and nobody will outshine Him in the end.

Onward Christian Soldiers!