The Age-Old Struggle

I've started this post about 5 times trying to figure out how to open it smoothly without just dumping my brain all over the screen. The Delete key is one of the greatest inventions ever! Hopefully my thoughts won't seem too disjointed....there is a point and a connection.

Last night, I missed President Bush's Farewell Address and turned on the TV as some of the journalists were discussing it. Of course they had their guest commentators to offer their opinions, and they were not shy about pointing out Bush's shortcomings and failures. To be fair, one did acknowledge "his legendary acts of kindness" and that he is a warm and caring individual and while this journalist disagrees with much of his politics, he likes him as an individual. But one comment just got all under my skin. This same man in comparing Bush and the media's beloved President-Elect Obama commented that Bush is "a John the Baptist figure to Obama."

Excuse me? Mr. Journalist, the Messiah has already come, and He is NOT about to be sworn in as President.

So I turned off the TV, watched a movie with my girl (the kids finished finals and have a 4-day weekend! WOOHOO!) and went to bed.

I slept horribly. Not sure what woke me up, but once I was awake, all manner of issues started swirling through my head. Frustrations with myself. Concerns over a couple of parenting issues. Feeling like I don't measure up. Thinking of all the ways I fail to do what I should do. I eventually went back to sleep, but I woke up still feeling discouraged.

I remembered Paul wrote about some of these same struggles, so I opened my Bible to Romans 7 and read again about the whole conflict between "what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (v. 15) I identified with Paul when he said that "in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my ind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." (vv. 22-23)

And then.

We tend to read the Bible in chapters, but those divisions were added later. I don't think I'd ever completely connected that the wonderful truths of Romans 8 come right after the frustration of Romans 7. Immediately in the first verse of Chapter 8, Paul says "THEREFORE, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus...." What a beautiful comfort!

But what does this all have to do with the journalist? Although I obviously have no idea what his spiritual situation is, as I've been completely frustrated over the direction our country is heading and the lack of ethics and morals so many in leadership seem to have, God seemed to whisper this word to me:

If you struggle with doing right, and you have My Spirit in you, why do you expect non-believers to be above reproach?

In fact, Romans 8:7-8 says that "The sinful min is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

So I will continue to press on, and even rejoice that I do struggle, for it is evidence that the Spirit dwells within me. And let God deal with the political realm. For it is only through His conviction that their hearts - and then their actions - will change.

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