Adapting

I've heard a lot sadness and fear since the election. One man emailed me and told me it was time to overthrow our government. I disagree. In fact, I think November 6th was a D-Day of sorts.

June 6, 1944. A pivotal point in the conflict of World War II. On D-Day, many soldiers exiting the landing craft were slaughtered. Pinned down on the beach by machine-gun fire from above, they scurried for cover. They were forced to adapt to the deadly conditions.

They could have given up. They could have run back to the water to try to find safety. Instead, they changed the plan. They figured out a way to move up the hills and take out the entrenched, fortified positions of the enemy. The Germans did not adapt, they stayed where they were, and were defeated.

I'm encouraged by that story today. I've seen Saving Private Ryan enough times to visualize a little of what they went through. Though they were afraid, they didn't give in to fear. They adapted. They changed their plan, their way of thinking of how the battle might be won.

November 6, 2012 was our opportunity to reconfigure. But I'm not talking politics. The enemy on the hill is not a Democrat or a Republican. The enemy is not your pro-choice or pro-gay marriage neighbor. Or the Affordable Care Act. Or President Obama. Or John Boehner. I may disagree about the policies and politics and morality of my neighbor, but they are not the enemy. And defeating "them," whoever "they" are, is not the point of this post.

When I say "you," "we," or "our" from here on, I mean the Church, the body of Christ. Followers of Jesus. And the battle is not against flesh and blood.

What we have in any life change (or non-change) is opportunity. But we can only seize that opportunity if we have the vision to adapt. And the adaptation is much bigger than businesses trying to figure out how to live in this economy, with these health care laws and the social and political realities of 2012.

The biggest adaptation, the very core of this reconfiguration, comes in my own heart. It is a spiritual one. Get this right and you can't lose. Get it wrong and you'll miss what God is trying to do in and through us.

You and I were put on the face of this planet at this time in history for a reason. And though I would love to see America embrace biblical values in every sphere, I ultimately don't have the power to make that happen. But I do have the power to choose something other than fear.

Peter, in a tumultuous political world, spoke to believers who were suffering under Nero. They were being persecuted. Peter encouraged them to live blameless lives. He encouraged them to live what they said they believed in the face of great opposition.

Do not fear what they fear or be disturbed, but honor the Messiah as Lord in your hearts.

This army moving forward will change the world by changing hearts. Find your place in that army and do your duty. Work at it with all your heart. Show the world what love looks like. Show the world what it looks like to have peace in the midst of a storm. Show the world what faith and hope can bring when it's placed in God.

Whether our economy flourishes wildly in the next four years or we go off a fiscal cliff, whether social changes restrict abortion or cause it to increase, whether marijuana or marriage laws swing in a way that dismays or encourages, allow this time, this current situation, to embolden you and focus your soul on the truth. And the truth is, we have some really good news for people who are perishing.

The Church, Christ's body, never loses an election. The church is victorious because Christ was and is victorious.

We don't serve a dead ideal, we serve a risen Savior.

So adapt. Allow God to reconfigure your heart. Don't give in to fear. And do this for the glory of God and his Kingdom.

As you adapt, stay involved. Pray for our president. Pray for our leaders. Pray for wisdom and discernment. Pray for the poor. Pray for the widow and the orphan. And as God leads you, roll up your sleeves and get to work in issues of justice and mercy. Pray that God will mobilize his people to adapt to his Kingdom principles so that whatever happens, people will see us living out what we believe.

Some will say this is giving up. That's the irony. When you adapt and reconfigure to God's Kingdom, you don't just survive. Something comes alive inside. You realize outside forces don't have the power to hold back the truth. When God penetrates the fear in your own heart, he will show you how to thrive through the power of Christ. And when we thrive, we begin to gain a vision of strongholds we couldn't see. We discover new battles on beachheads we didn't know existed. We help liberate others and provide a avenues to true freedom, something that can never be given by any human government.

This is what must motivate our lives. This is how real change happens. Allow God to reconfigure your heart. Then we can move up the hill together.