Joy

July 17, 2019

“You Americans have it all wrong!” My friend Willie was speaking. “You spend millions on elections every four years. Look at all the money you could be saving: we haven’t spent a single peso on elections in fifty years.” Coming from a single-party country, Willie was speaking somewhat tongue in cheek, but he has a point. No matter what political persuasion you are, the dysfunction in government is pretty disconcerting. Years ago, Will Rogers quipped, “We have the best politicians money can buy.” This morning I received an email from one of the parties calling for revenge against the other party. Revenge! I’m not sure why I get emails from both parties, but I do. I wonder when our representatives will begin to actually represent us instead of spending all their time trying to destroy those of the other party. Will Roger’s other oft-quoted statement is apropos: “It’s a good thing we don’t get all the government we pay for.”

Some time ago, a person I’ve known for years unfriended me on Facebook when I private messaged her and asked if her constant posting of political memes was giving her joy. I know the temptation; it’s easy to imagine we are convincing others with the clever quotes and sarcastic comments, but most of the time we’re preaching to the choir, no matter which side of the debate we’re on. I think I hit a nerve. But it’s a nerve that has come back to bite me occasionally.

The good news in all this is what I learn when I search the Scriptures. My hope isn’t in politics or the educational system. It’s not in capitalism, as much as I believe it’s the best system ever devised for lifting people from poverty. My hope is in Jesus Christ, by whose grace and mercy my sins are forgiven, my life is redeemed, and my future is secured. There’s one caveat to all this: we have to keep our eyes on the goal. Inundated as we are with 24/7 information on tv, radio, and internet, we have to make a conscious decision to filter what we allow to capture our attention. It’s not a matter of choosing ignorance, but of what we allow to become the focus of our hearts. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” We all want our heart’s desires to come true; it only happens when we first delight ourselves in the Lord, which requires constant vigilance due to the wandering nature of our hearts. Tonight, I set my heart once more on the Lord, who is my hope.