Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It was too cold to spend much time outside on the porch at daybreak, but I stepped out long enough to fill my lungs with fresh air and to see what the Master was up to today, and what I saw was enough to stir my Soul. As I stood there taking in the Fall beauty, I didn’t notice the break in the clouds at first. All I could see was color so beautiful that I didn’t want to take my eyes off it long enough to look at anything else. It’s the day after the midterm elections in America, and it makes me sad to see the majority of (professed) Christians a whole lot more focused on the “break” than they are on the Beauty, and I fear for them because of it. There will never be another day like this one, that much I know for sure – not another sunrise or sunset and certainly not an election. From where I sit, no matter the results of any election, America will remain divided UNLESS (and by some miracle) God’s people begin to focus MORE on the Beauty than the break. Our Instructions from the One who still sits on the Throne are to turn our eyes upon HIM and not on this mess of a world. It’s only when we do that, that we can Focus on (and Celebrate) the Beauty and not the break. Isn’t it just like my God to use a magnificent Fall sunrise to drive a Message to my Heart today? I’m listening. Are you?

I Serve a God who can calm a storm at the sound of His voice. I Serve a God who can part the sea to save millions of His people and who can rain down manna from Heaven to feed them. I Serve a God who plants the seed of life inside a mother’s womb, and I serve a God who can raise the dead on Command. I Serve a God who can still heal the sick and raise the dead. I Serve a God who set the Plans for the day we were born and the day we will die and every day in between. I Serve a God who sent His one and only son to die for me so that I might have Hope and a Future. I Serve a God who gives AND takes away. I Serve a God who has GIVEN authority to good kings AND bad kings, and I serve a God who sends calamity when His children get too out of line. I Serve a God who is already in tomorrow, and not only did He know the results of the election before the foundations of the earth, but Ordains every leader the world has ever known. He puts the leaders in place for His Divine Purpose, and whether we like them or not, we need to Trust Him. I Serve a God who will stop at absolutely nothing to turn His people away from the break and back to the Beauty because He loves us. My God can do anything. But even though my God is able, far too many (professed) Christians who claim to be His people are focused on the break a whole lot more than the Beauty. What kind of results did they expect?

I’m no expert, but I believe that God LOVES it when His children surrender it all to Him….from life to family to country…and yes, even to election results. I believe it pleases my God when we choose to hide in the “shadow of His wings” and when we Trust Him with the outcome of an election, no matter how bleak the outcome looks. I believe it pleases my God when we confess that we have no strength of our own (only His to sustain us) and when we Acknowledge that “there is no good thing apart from Him”. I believe it pleases my God when we’re Bold and Courageous in the Mighty Name of Jesus Christ and when we care MUCH more about lost Souls than we do about lost elections. To some, that might sound impossible based on the state of the Nation we claim to love – to others still making noise and shaking their fists, the fact that I lay it all down at the foot of the Cross and I trust Him with the results is “lame”.

Many have tried and failed to entice me to focus more on the break than the Beauty, but that’s never going to happen. I Know that “with God all things are possible” and that “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength”. I’m not “clueless”, I’m Focused! I know that my God can use anything and anybody to bring Glory to Himself, and I know that I don’t have the power to change what God has already ordained. Not only that, I have the “peace that surpasses all understanding” because of it. Unless God’s people STOP focusing on the break and START focusing on the Beauty, there is no hope for America at all BECAUSE God will not be mocked. Anybody who has spent Quality Time in His Word knows that He that actually does have a tolerance threshold when His people focus more on their idols (in this case, politicians) than on the Living God. Many times throughout history, He has removed His Hand because of it. You think things look bad now? Just imagine what it looks like when (or if) the Hand of God is removed from our land. Now THAT ought to get our attention!

I don’t know what the future of our Country will look like or who will ultimately be leading our government, but I DO KNOW Who will always be King, and I DO KNOW that He has the future in the palm of His Hands. He already knew the election results before we did because He “certified” them before the foundations of the earth. My God already Knows the Plans He has for His Children, and although He promises to be our Provider and our Protector, He never promised Easy Street.

There is no way to welcome in the Future we’re promised without experiencing the perilous times the Bible warns us about. No matter what – no matter how good or bad – no matter how difficult – no matter left or right, male or female, conservative or liberal, you will find me Focusing on the Beauty as I watch my God unfold the breaks to draw His people closer to Him again.

It’s all for His Purpose and His Glory, America. Once you get that part right, you’ll have the “peace that surpasses all understanding” for such a time as this, too!

God bless America.

I KNOW WHO HOLDS TOMORROW LYRICS

I don’t know about tomorrow,

I just live from day to day.

I don’t borrow from its sunshine,

For its skies may turn to gray.

I don’t worry o’er the future,

For I know what Jesus said,

And today I’ll walk beside Him,

For He knows what is ahead.

Many things about tomorrow,

I don’t seem to understand;

But I know who holds tomorrow,

And I know who holds my hand.

Every step is getting brighter,

As the golden stairs I climb;

Every burden’s getting lighter;

Every cloud is silver-lined.

There the sun is always shining,

There no tear will dim the eye,

At the end of the rainbow,

Where the mountains touch the sky.

I don’t know about tomorrow,

It may bring me poverty;

But the one who feeds the sparrow,

Is the one who stands by me.

And the path that be my portion,

Maybe through the flame or flood,

But His presence goes before me,

And I’m covered with His blood.