Good Morning Church — Are you ready for a nice long ice bath?
After this past year I think we all need a long soak in the ice tub.
If you have spent anytime around a football locker room then you know exactly what I mean.
Nothing reduces the trauma of a tough fight on the field like the traditional post game ritual.
I was first introduced to the concept right after I met my husband. He played football through college so a ice tub became a permanent fixture in our household.
And now as our nation prepares for the days ahead I think nothing will reduce the swelling or heal us faster than a nice long soak before the games begin again.
We all hope that President Elect Donald Trump will be a great leader.
I believe in the renewing power of redemption and I pray that will be what guides and directs our new commander in chief.
But we can’t ignore the path our country is on and the destructive forces that will continue to work to tear us apart.
We have to take responsibility for the part we played in allowing our country to get to the point where the only viable candidates for the most honorable office in our nation made many of us sick.
Yet we reluctantly went to the polls.
Now how do we move forward — even those whose candidate won — what’s next?
As I said at the beginning — we need to take a few days — maybe weeks and just be better.
With the Thanksgiving and Christmas season upon us we have the perfect opportunity to reconnect with what matters most.
Spending a little time recovering before we jump back into the political and world game is not only a good idea — it’s Biblical.
Last week I was reminded of the story of Elijah and how he ran and hid from Jezebel.
In 1 Kings 19 Elijah went into hiding and even prayed for God to take his life because he was so weary.
In the passage — as he slept — he was visited by an angel of God who gave him food and water and told him to rest because the journey had been too much for him.
Twice the angel visited Elijah and encouraged him to rest and recover.
But just like Elijah I think the most important thing for us to remember is what happens later;
After Elijah had rested and began his journey again he traveled for 40 days to Mount Horeb and GOD came to him.
1 Kings 19:9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
The response Elijah gave sounds similar to the many things we have said to each other this past year.
Elijah told GOD what a good job he had been doing and all the horrible things the others had been responsible for.
1 Kings 19:10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
Of course the situation had been horrible but rather than tell GOD what HE already knew — I think GOD wanted to illustrate HIS absolute control and remind Elijah that how and when HE presents HIMSELF is not for us to decide or demand but WAIT UPON.
I can imagine what must have gone through Elijah’s mind — He had been a prophet of God for many years. He had witnessed GOD’s power again and again — and now GOD had said go stand on the mountain because I AM going to pass by.
First there was a mighty wind — then an earthquake and a fire — all spectacular displays that would seem to be the mechanism GOD would use to pass by HIS creation — but it was only in the gentle whisper that Elijah found the presence of GOD.
In the days ahead — after a bit of rest — don’t try to second-guess how GOD will continue to direct this storm.
It may be in breathtaking fashion with undeniable power for all the world to see or it may be just for us individually — in the form of a gentle whisper — just as it was for Elijah.
It’s my continuing prayer that we will all renew our faith and walk close enough to the FATHER that we won’t just hear HIS whisper but feel HIS breath on our face and that HE will once again bless these United States of America.
God Bless
LaVern Vivio
November 13, 2016
