Throne of truth & never changing promises

In reading & hearing all the changes happening in our nation over the past couple of days, I tend to run for comfort, not cover!  I love the Word in that is a refuge & a very present help in time of trouble.  This scripture is often quoted out of condemnation, or used as a last resort.  It represents a duty all of us need to assume on a daily basis.

God appeared to Solomon that very night and said, “I accept your prayer; yes, I have chosen this place as a temple for sacrifice, a house of worship. If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I’ll be there ready for you: I’ll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health. From now on I’m alert day and night to the prayers offered at this place. Believe me, I’ve chosen and sanctified this Temple that you have built: My Name is stamped on it forever; my eyes are on it and my heart in it always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, pure in heart and action, living the life I’ve set out for you, attentively obedient to my guidance and judgments, then I’ll back your kingly rule over Israel—make it a sure thing on a sure foundation. The same covenant guarantee I gave to David your father I’m giving to you, namely, ‘You can count on always having a descendant on Israel’s throne.’  2 Chron. 7: 12-18 Message

It has resonated in my heart & mind all day.  I am guilty of complaining about decisions made by our government yesterday.  I have talked to people first hand who have had this type of health care.  In 1987 we were temporarily staying at a campground in Poughkeepsie, NY.  My daughter was 10 & there were people from all over in that particular camp.  It wasn’t the nicest place to stay, but it was temporary for a job assignment.  One of the couples we met happened to be from Nova Scotia, Canada.  When they learned I was a nurse, we of course discussed health care between the US & Canada.  Their explanation of free medical care was enticing until they explained the “benefits.”  People didn’t have medical freedoms we do now.  Certain criteria was in place & if you didn’t fall in said criteria, you didn’t qualify.   Frequent visits to the ER for a tummy ache wasn’t considered.  The conversation became sadder & sadder as they spoke of disease processes & aging individuals.  I’ll never forget the way I reacted to that conversation.  Over the next several years it remained in the recesses of my mind as I cared for people in nursing homes, geriatric floors of the hospital, skilled nursing facilities, long-term care units & ER/ICU.  I knew many of those patients would have never received medical attention had we been involved in socialized medicine.  Seriously, it made me think differently when guilty family members chose to prolong the life of a loved one only to soothe their conscience.  I knew at that time their conscious would never survive socialized medicine.  People who presented to ER simply to receive a work excuse would never survive socialized medicine.  The million dollar work-ups, the unnecessary prescription medications, hypochondriatic episodes, & etc., would NEVER survive socialized medicine. When disease processes began to deteriorate the human body, socialized medicine would never approve medical care required to help an individual merely live regardless of the quality of life they had.

Then it began really, really hitting close to home.  What would happen to the doctors, nurses, techs, etc.? How would our pay-scale become affected?  How would our already rubber-band-thin work loads withstand such changes?  Remember…..this time frame was from 1987 – 2004. One conversation surfaced numerous times in those years.

Fast forward to 2012 just a week before we celebrate 4th. of July, or Independence Day.  That conversation is now the topic of discussion & I’ve had years to digest it.  Not sure about you, but doesn’t  this decision seem  to have been a scheme to make us doubt why we embrace the nation that fought every tyrant for freedom??  Hold fast….America is still the land of the free & the home of the brave & we are commissioned to keep it that way.  The scripture above brings comfort to my soul (mind, will & emotions).   Every promise is Yes & Amen to those in Christ.  God never changes, never sleeps, never goes against what He has promised & we can count on those promises.  His throne is a throne of truth & integrity.  In the midst of change, turmoil & division, we can run to the rock of our Salvation.

 

I know the changes at hand will not be what everyone thinks they will be.  I also know we serve a God that rescued His people out of 400 years of bondage.  He guided our forefathers granting courage, fortitude, perseverance & grace to develop our nation.  Remember…He is no respecter of persons & never changes.  He doesn’t react to our fear, our uncertainty, & definitely not our opinions.  He responds to prayers birthed from hearts of humility.  Fear not, only believe.  I encourage all of us to embrace His suggestion…..come boldly, with a heart of humility, before His throne of grace to obtain mercy & find grace in a time of need!  While expressing our anger or disappointment feels good, our nation needs us to rise up this way!

Blessings,

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