[NOTE: This post is about me, and no one else. It is about how the Lord has been helping me to grow by seeing myself reflected in others who do wrong, and then holding that up to those who are being more obedient. I write it simply to share my testimony with others. The reader will have to decide for themselves whether or not my experience bears any value to their own.]
I have been struggling with the election this year. Not so much because of any difficulty with what I believe or finding a candidate who represents my principles, but with accepting the changes I have seen in my fellow countrymen. I no longer believe we are a ‘good’ people. Sadly, I have come to suspect that America is no longer an exceptional nation. We have lost what made us who we once were. Nowhere is this change more apparent than in those who support Donald Trump. How is it they do not see that Trump is a Republican version of Barack Obama? Everything these people claim was wrong with those who supported Obama is true about them for supporting Trump, but they cannot see it. But this is not the most difficult part for me. The most difficult part is that, not too very long ago, I would have been a Trump supporter. But this was before I surrendered to the Lord and start to follow His commands and not my own desires. I thought I was doing a decent job at walking with the Lord…until I saw this video of Ted Cruz confronting a Trump supporter:
To those who do not hear the Lord’s voice, this is just another political campaign video. But to those who hear and follow the Lord, this video is filled with teaching.
First, I was struck by how calmly Cruz deals with the hostility aimed at him. He is sincerely trying to have a conversation with this man — to understand him — but the man is hostile and insulting. Yet, in the face of the insult, Cruz stays calm and tries to correct the protester with the truth. When the man continues to insult him, Cruz does not defend himself. He just stays calm and speaks the truth. This is one of the best examples of a Christ-like agape love I have seen recently. It made me think of Christ confronting the Pharisees. All I know is I could not have done this. I am not that mature in my walk yet, which means I am nowhere near as obedient as I need to be.
But this also shows me something I need to find a way to deal with. So many of my friends who claim to follow the Lord also support Trump. I simply cannot understand this. I know the Scriptures that tell us that His people hear His voice, and He does not teach lawlessness. So how can a disciple of Christ follow a man so boastfully lawless as Donald Trump? When I have tried to help my friends see that Trump is lying, or that he is acting in a way that makes him an enemy of the Lord, my friends turn on me. In fact, anyone who disagrees with Trump is viciously attacked by his supporters. How does any of this have any union with Christ or His Gospel message? It doesn’t — period!
In begging the Lord to help me understand what all this means, I was given this passage:
19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”
I cannot explain how badly this hurts. It speaks directly to the spiritual condition of my friends, but also to myself. It tells me just how much of me remains and how much I must let go so that I can more completely surrender. It scares me, both for myself, but also for my friends. It scares me because this passage is very clear: if you cannot see and understand the Truth, you do not hear and follow His voice. And if you do not hear and follow His voice, you need to question whether or not you are really one of His sheep.
So why does this video speak to me? Because Cruz is telling the truth: Trump has told his supporters to attack those who disagree with him. Cruz is also telling the truth when he tries to explain that Trump has been deliberately deceiving his supporters. If the media were telling the truth, maybe Trump’s supporters would have seen some of the interviews where Trump has openly admitted he is playing a role, and that he will change his positions once he no longer has to play that role to get votes. But the media is as lawless as Trump, so even if Trump’s supporters might hear and accept the truth, they are not hearing it. So they believe the propaganda that Cruz is lying. Well, like him or not, Cruz has not been lying and this can be demonstrated — if one bothers to actually research the claims. So those who advance and believe this are believing in a lie. No, this is not directly connected to Scripture, but it is a lie, just the same, and Scripture tells us the father of all lies is Satan. So to accept a lie — Scriptural or not — is to accept Satan over Christ.
Now, I point no fingers because, as I said, this video has shaken me. It has shown me just how guilty I am. How many lies have I accepted? Even when I believed I was sincerely seeking and pursuing the truth, I have accepted lies. I know what that means for me, and it scares me more than anything in this world ever has. I do not wish to be deceived because I understand what that means, and where it leads. This is why I shake at the Spiritual message in this video.
There is one last message in this video. Trump always talks about how many people are voting for him. In fact, most people talk about ‘democracy’ and the ‘will of the majority.’ This is also in the video, as the protester told Cruz to get out of the race because of majority pressure. Well, if the majority bows to a lie…
[NOTE: I no longer think of my voice as anything special. There was a time when I believed I had something important to say, but not so much these days. I write now because I feel driven to do so. Something inside me will not let me rest until I post the pages you just read. I’d just as soon not bother anymore. It all seems like no one is listening and I do more harm than good. So I have come to trust that whatever it is driving me has all this under control. Personally, I believe it is God, but others may not. All I ask is that, if anything I write helps you, or you think it might help others in any way, please, share this page. Re-blog it, share it on FB or send the link to your friends. So long as you feel it will do more good than harm, then please, use this page however you wish. Thank you.]
The Oil for Your Lamp 