Is it time to be afraid yet?

Obama might win. McCain might win. Ok. Nader might win. Either way, I am pretty sure that I am supposed to be afraid.

See Obama is really a Muslim terrorist/racist who will rise up to be the anti-Christ (because clearly the signs of the Apocalypse are to be found in email forwards, not facts or much less the Bible). And McCain is going to ruin our economy PLUS create another endless war as the Bush mimic. And if Nader wins, well, ok, Nader's not going to win. But if he did I am sure there would be critical life-altering and threatening changes coming.

I just read an article today about how our economic crisis developed because of our faulty economic policies. A suggested solution: Islamic financial policy based on the Holy Qu'ran. (I am not joking. You can find the literature at http://www.adbusters.org/blogs. It's the third to last article on the page.)

And don't forget that food prices are going up. We may all starve here in the near future.

And toxins and poisonous food are lurking in every area of our life waiting to destroy us.

And you know about Al Quada? They are nearly at our door if not already infiltrated through our nation.

And, of course, there are the good old-fashioned concerns: car accidents, kidnappings, robbery, random drive-by shootings, road rage, anthrax and heart attack.

Basically we ought to be afraid, very afraid. In fact, we should vote, eat, drive, walk and read all out of fear. Solemn, biblically-based, pulpit-inspired fear.

Could Rev. Falwell be right? Could these terrors be signs of punishment from God? I mean, He punished Israel, after all. If He's willing to punish His chosen people then surely this pagan nation is headed for doom and gloom. Look at the book of Hosea. He says He's going to "rebuke her (Israel)", "strip her naked," "make her like a desert," "block her path," and make it so she "can't find her way." And that's His plan of action to His favorite people. America must be screwed (especially if Prop 102 doesn't pass)!

But have we read the whole chapter? He does all of this for a single purpose: to draw her (Israel) back to Him. He then says He will "allure" her by speaking "tenderly" to her in her lost state. Then He says He will restore her vineyards and bring her hope.

What? I thought He did it because He was angry. He hated her and wanted her destroyed, right?

The Word says she got so far from her "husband (God)," that He removed every single distraction from her until she turned back to Him. Did He destroy her? Depends how you look at it. In my mind, her life was not taken. In fact, it was restored so that she would, as it says in Hosea 2:15, "sing as in the days of her youth."

Sure confusion and pain would have swirled around her as she began to lose all the things she trusted. In the beginning she declared "my lovers...give me my food and my water, my wool and my linen, my oil and my drink." To lose what she believed to be her sustenance would be devastating. But her way of thinking had become twisted. She forgot who really provided for her.

He expressly says "I was the one who gave her the grain, the new wine and oil, who lavished on her the silver and gold." She got so far from the truth that she began living a lie. And she forgot the one who truly loved her--for her. She had done nothing to earn His love. But her "lovers" required many lewd acts in order to "love" her.

So might God be punishing us? I hope so. I am tried of performing my own lewd acts to receive love from a government, from an economy, from a corporate society that doesn't care whether I live or die and really does me no good at all.

I know that I have gotten far from Him. I have forgotten that it's Him who provided my house--not the real estate boom. It's Him that kept me healthy--not the Organics line at Safeway. It's Him that provided and withheld jobs--not the economy. It's Him that maintains the weather--not the Global Warming crisis. It's all been Him, but we (and I mean Christians when I say we) have trusted in the world for our prosperity.

It may sound extreme, but if it takes a socialist president and Qu'ran law to turn us back to Him, then so be it. We are assured that we have nothing to fear if we know Jesus. In fact, we have been promised that it will all work to good. That is, if we truly love Him.

So what are you afraid of this election? This day? This year? Maybe most of us grew up without a father or with one who would berate us and withhold affection and that's what we think of when we think of punishment. But that is not God's definition of punishment. It's about time we stop fearing the worst and trust the God whose express goal is to bring us to Him.

Is He really good? Good enough for us to give up fear? I think so.

Vote. Don't vote. I don't really care. I just want you to know Him. He has proven that He directs the hearts of kings like waterways. I don't need a good king or a good president. Not nearly as much as I need a good God. And I already have one of those.

If you do too, then what are you so afraid of? Losing your house? Your 401k? Having gays in your neighborhood (remember they need Jesus as much as I do whether or not they legally marry)? Think about it and take it back to Him. I am pretty sure that Paul said even death held no fear for him. So what keeps us gripped in terror? He promises that His plan for us is not to harm us, but to prosper us. To give us a hope and a future. And hopefully, like with Israel, to allure us back to Him with kind words and new vineyards.

Maybe our fear stems from the possibility that we don't really trust Him after all. Trying to resuscitate a government to a moral state is a perfect distraction from the reality that none of us are good--no, not one. He says that He will heal our land when WE turn to Him and pray. He doesn't mention voting and He doesn't reference consitutional purity. So are you praying? Are you trusting Him?

Lord, thank You for Your goodness. Thank You for Your Word that leads us to the Truth every time. I love You.