For someone like me, that likes to see restoration, this would appear to be a very hopeless, helpless situation.
However, for someone like me, that has been tuning her ears to discernment...it's situations such as this that makes the answer seem very clear.
Lend me your unbiased ear for a moment.
Do we really believe that it's the Republican's and Democrat's that are causing this division? If we do, we have a lot of maturity to obtain.
I love to go to the "roots" of an issue. It takes more hard work, more effort and certainly more time, but I've had more "issues" in my life "resolved" by refusing to use band aids or pain killers and finding the "source of the pain". I talk it through, (and I do talk a lot, ask anyone), I look at both sides, I pray, and most importantly I turn to the Truth of God to find the answer...and I promise you, the answers always come.
A few years back, I left the church because of a conflict I could not resolve by being there. My heart was turning bitter and I needed to leave to avoid causing further issues for others in the church. (You can go back several blogs to hear my heart on that) I feel, still to this day, that I was valid in my bitterness, but I guarantee you, my bitterness was not the reason it was resolved. What did resolve it was seeking God's wisdom, obtaining wise council from all sides and searching my heart.
In America today, I look to the right, (the Republican view) I see a nation built on laws to protect and uphold what our fore fathers built for us to bath and soak in. We really do live in the land of milk and honey. Hard work is what got us here, tears, sweat, wars, and teaching our nation the difference between right and wrong based on a set of principals that are tried and true. Biblical principals...solid biblical foundation. If lived in this manner, our country will continue to thrive, our economy will grow and yes, our little guys...our middle class families, will also thrive. There won't be too many free handouts because the right believes if you work hard, you won't have to be a beggar and the sky is the limit. You reap what you sew. However, if you find a widow or an orphan, than those that are able to work hard, should share a little of their milk and honey and help those that are unable to, to live an amazing life in this land of milk and honey.
But then, you get to the unbalanced right....the far right as those would call them. The extremists. You know the ones that if you don't follow every letter of the law, that you will be beat into the ground, made to feel worthless and will never be offered a second chance in life. You are considered an enemy if you do not believe every single letter of everything the right believes. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones that send bombs to homes of people that don't see things their way. Just jump on social media, you'll find them. Arrogant, easily offended and egotistical, not willing to compromise on anything.
In America today, I also look to the left, (the Democratic view). I love that this view is about love and equality. That no matter what you believe, you are accepted. This group's vision is simple. They desire a land that gives all people regardless of race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation, the chance to live out their dreams and achieve their God-given potential. They desire to see our country the world’s strongest force for peace and freedom. They fight to see an America that is coming together around what they see as solid Biblical Principals, love the Lord with all your mind all your soul and all your heart and LOVE your neighbor as yourself. Biblical principals...solid biblical foundation. If lived in this manner, our country will continue to thrive, our economy will grow and yes, our little guys...our middle class families, will also thrive.
But then, you get to the unbalance left...the far left as those would call them. The extremists. You know the ones I'm referring too, the ones that parade around in women's private parts, break windows, cause riots, block traffic and say about any possible thing they can think of to make their point. You know the one's that will go to any extreme, including beating up others that don't agree with their views, the ones that need hot cocoa and ponies when they don't get their way. Those that use platforms to cut down our President of the United States to promote their agenda. Kill babies, live unholy lives and disregard any instruction what so ever, to feed their own needs.
As I'm on point with the political banters...my question to you is this; Is the Republican's and Democrat's the ones causing division, or is it our own hearts?
Here's the solution folks... and it's a simple one. You know the answer, but it will take some time, hard work, reflection on your own heart, responsibility, accountability and some extra effort for you to get to the roots.
It's Jesus. You know it, I know it, and your heart knows it.
So how do we fix it?
We go to the Word of God. We put away our own understanding, our own beliefs, our own ideologies, our own fleshly desires and we find out what God wants. You might be surprised that he wants both Republican's and Democrats, as he does the Old and New Testament to balance us in His Will and His Truth.
God wants to you above all to seek Him. Independently. Have a relationship with Him. He wants you to fellowship with Him, ask Him for wisdom and discernment. He will correct and love. He will guide and discipline. He allows freewill, however wrong that looks, and offers grace when we realize that our freewill doesn't line up to God's.
Friends, the answer to our division is closing the gap on our absence of God. Sometimes for the right, the Republican's, that might look like remembering that it's not just about following laws, but loving others and providing grace. For the left, the Democrat's, that might look like being corrected when we go beyond loving and forget that we have laws that keep us protected. For the extremists, that might take the right and left to come together and stand against the true enemy. The enemy that knows that a house, a country, divided, can not stand.
Shall we seek God first, so that all these other things, good things, will be added to us?