While we make the journey from 2020 to 2021, I’m getting incoming (verbal mortar rounds) that bombards my temperament, which, according to my late friend Tim LaHaye, must be “Spirit-controlled.” That was the book he wrote –The Spirit Controlled Temperament—that, Dr. LaHaye once told me over lunch, really set his influence in ministry on the pathway the Lord wanted for him.
It’s a real test, and I depend on the Lord completely to keep my temperament at a level it’s supposed to be. Otherwise, I would lose it while I’m confronted with things attributed to our God from self-authoritative voices and word processors that grate on my spiritual senses.
Now, I must say that much of the grating comes from my own, admittedly, sometimes intransigence—i.e., I’ve been told by some closest to me that I’m hard-headed once my thoughts are set. It is with full admission of that human frailty that I approach this commentary.
A number of emailers have in recent days sent messages that, to me, come just short of saying God is wrong in His dealings with the election, America, and, in effect, with His people.
Others, whose articles I’ve read, proclaim, as if the writers were personally briefed by the Lord, that God has determined to judge America and dismantle the nation. And, one such writer says, 2 Chronicles 7:14 is for Israel only, not for Christians of today. God has only made covenant with one people, and that is the nation Israel, not with America or any other people.
I agree that the Lord has made a covenant only with one nation, but I disagree vehemently that He has made covenant with only one people.
—Well, maybe I shouldn’t say “vehemently,” as that doesn’t sound “Spirit-controlled.” But I do disagree strongly. The Lord of Heaven has most certainly made a covenant with Christians, and we are people called by His Name. The prayer of 2 Chronicles 7: 14 is for people called by His name. I am one of those, and He hears and acts upon those prayers.
His answers aren’t always what I think is best. As a matter of fact, His answers are, more often than not, different than those my hard-headed ways would have it. But His answers are ALWAYS the very best.
And this brings me to perhaps the central point of the commentary.
Emailers, as I’ve mentioned, have sent numerous messages saying similar things. They express—usually skirting coming right out and saying God is wrong—that they wonder why the Lord has now decided to abandon America and us (His Christian people) by allowing the election to go in a different direction than the emailers believe to be right.
These aren’t rebellious children of God, I realize, once my temperament is controlled. They’re genuinely worried and want to vent their frustration. We all feel that way about the events of the last months and years, regarding the American governmental, societal, and cultural turbulence.
So, I will use a Christian brother’s email to illustrate how it bothers me when people imply that they know God’s intentions and disagree with those intentions.
Why did the Father allow this combination of human and demonic wickedness to steal this election? He has not allowed it before in my understanding of our history. He has allowed man to exercise his free will in our elections, and man has made the wrong choice most of the time in recent decades.
He allowed it to go beyond just man exercising his free will this time. Why did He do so?
He intervened miraculously in 2016 to put Donald Trump in power. I thought He would do so again this time if necessary. But He chose not to. I don’t understand why He would not give Donald and Mike another four years, barring the Rapture event, to continue being His positive instrument for righteousness and good, and for our very supportive relations with Israel.
I believe the country has been on a stay of execution from the Father since the 1960s. So He has been patient with our wickedness for a long time. I don’t understand why another brief four years of patience was not possible.
Again, this brother, I believe, is simply expressing his frustration, and I mean no severe criticism by using this excerpt as illustration of my own frustration with people who seem to think they know God’s intention. Those who do that bother me considerably. We, as His creatures—His creation—should, as people indwelt by the Holy Spirit, seek to, as Tim LaHaye wrote, have our temperaments controlled by Heaven’s governance. This includes seeking not only to refrain from anger without just cause, but to be dedicated to realizing that God is in complete control at all times.
We can’t fully know His intention. We can understand what the ultimate outcome will be, because He has told us through His prophets in His Word. But the steps He will take to arrive at the destiny He has determined is within the purview of His omniscience exclusively.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8–9)
Let us trust Him in these troubling yet exciting times. I say “exciting,” because He must even now be preparing our heavenly dwelling places He has promised to take us home to in the Rapture.