A run-in with the heart of the Father

The other day I was driving to work by myself and I had a car that passed me with a bumper sticker on the back of it that said "NOBAMA" over an American flag. Now I've seen that phrase hundreds of times over the past few years but this time I felt the Lord telling me to pray for our president. I started with some generic, "righteous" phrases but then I thought of how Mr. Obama would have to answer his little girls when they would see that phrase and ask their beloved father what it meant. Suddenly, I was overcome with God's heart for the Obama's and I couldn't help but cry as I thought of how this man, regardless of his political or personal views, had to overcome so much hatred from the very people he was currently serving. I don't agree with many views of our President, but I do know I wouldn't want his job and it's hard enough to be president of the most influential country in the world without having to also face the ridicule of someone who judges you based on your skin color, choice of faith, and not to mention, who only knows you by what someone, who is not trustworthy, else tells them (the media). No one deserves that kind of treatment.

In reality, we as humans deserve the worst kind of treatment because of our sin, but God has made a way for us to live in freedom through Jesus and He asks us to love others as He loves us. As I continued praying, I thought of the treatment Daniel received in the Bible (God has been teaching me lots through Daniel's life this past year). Daniel experienced the reality of evil. When the Babylonians overran Daniels homeland, they probably destroyed his home, killed his parents, enslaved him and then made him walk to Babylon. After surviving that journey, Daniel was then forced to forget all that he was and learn a new culture, language, and religion, only to then have to serve the very king who completely ruined his life. But Daniel learned God's heart and learned to love his captor, Nebuchadnezzar. In fact, Daniel loved Nebuchadnezzar so much that when God began to humble the king, he wept and was grieved (Daniel 4:19). I would have been celebrating the fall of the man who made my life miserable.

I heard Dean Sherman speak recently and he said something that has challenged me everyday. Dean said that when Christians gather together for worship that before doing anything else, we are commanded (1 Timothy 2:1-5) to pray for everyone, especially our authorities. God loves to work in the opposite spirit and I can't imagine how transformed our President would be if every follower of Jesus in America would pray for Him everyday before doing anything else and then refuse to bad-mouth him and instead, honor him whenever possible.

President Barak Obama is a real person, with real feelings, a real wife, real children, and real dreams and aspirations. He also has a really hard job that God has prepared and appointed him for in this time. President Obama wants to bring change to our nation for the better, but I would have a hard time listening to those who say that the plan for change must come from the Bible when those same people are preaching that I'm the Anti-Christ.