Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Where Do You Stand?

I grew up learning about the Bible. The beginning and the end parts of the middle, too. I grew up knowing that the end had been determined and that there would be wars and hate to go around before it got here. I grew up listening to (and still do) my grandpa (one of the absolute best men on the face of the Earth) pray, every time he prays, he prays for Israel. I didn't always understand why he said that. I didn't always know that we would see the beginning of the end, but my grandpa....he always prays for Israel and it has stuck with me.

There was a picture I shared on my personal Facebook page the other day. It was a picture of a newspaper headline that said "Their God changes the path of our rockets in mid-air, said a terrorist." The picture said that it was a headline overheard in Gaza and it was credited to the Jewish Press Staff.  I don't know what the papers in Gaza say. I don't even know if they are printing papers in Gaza right now with all the war and hate they have going on. What I do know is that the statement the headline makes is meaningful.

In America we battle if there is a God or not. We fight atheism. We mostly fight with other believers about doctrinal things that are of little consequence. We struggle with seeing God in places that God abides in. We have silly battles over things that in 100 years from now won't matter anyway. But in Israel they are fighting a war that we can't begin to understand.

I have not followed all of the news stories and quite frankly all that would do is give me slanted semi-truths. I am not a Bible scholar. I don't claim to be the know all of this topic. That's why this is a blog...my personal blog and I am allowed to share my thoughts and my perspective. Good for me. What little difference my blog will make on what is going on in far away lands.

I do, however, look at that picture shared on Facebook and it speaks volumes to me. "Their God changes the path of our rockets in mid-air." My first thought was, "Well yes He does. He can do whatever He so chooses." My second thought was, "Yeah! That's my God!" And my third thought was probably a little more profound and I can't get it out of my head. It was, "These people don't deny that "their" God exists....." And as an American that was one of the most shocking realizations. The terrorists (or as Pelosi refers to them- the humanitarian organization) (had to throw that in) have no doubts that our God exists. They have no doubts that He can change the path of their rockets. They have probably read the Bible and know the outcome of this war, but they fight for their cause anyway.

Lessons, people. We can learn lessons from both sides of this. What do we know of having faith in God that we go to war for Him? What do we know of giving all we have for who we believe in? And from the terrorist point of view...they are fighting a battle they are certain to lose in the very end. I can commend their dedication. They probably don't believe they will lose, but they have no doubt that "their God" exists. And "their God" aka my God says that He will prevail. His people will win. And with all my heart I believe that.

I believe that we are seeing the beginning of the end. I have no clue as to how long "the end" will last. Maybe my lifetime or my children's, maybe even their children's, but my God knows. And I'm so glad He is in control. I'm so glad He has the answers.

Let's not forget Israel. The battle that has come to them has come to believers everywhere. We have to remember Israel and its people. We have to pray for them. We cannot politic this because it is so far beyond politics.  We can't stand back and fight our irrelevant battles and forget about what is important. America isn't immune to the hate and the war. We just haven't recognized our part yet, but it is there. It's here and upon us.

I know where my heart is. I know to whom I belong and to whom my family belongs. I pray for those who do not know God. Salvation is an easy thing. Don't get so lost in the politics of it that you can't see the trees for the forest. The war may not be in our backyard, but it is one we should be concerned with. We would be a much stronger people if we could put aside our simple disagreements and come together, united for what we believe. It has been written. The end has been decided. I know where I stand.

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