How Do We Pray for This Mess?
The Supreme Court nomination hearing seem to be a theater of the absurd—and sleazy. With new and unsubstantiated accusations today the American people are plunged into the mire for which the accusations are intended—doubt.
Years ago, a police officer in our church told me a story about the most important arrest of his career. He received special commendations for it. He had apprehended a man accused of abducting and assaulting two young teenage girls while they were on their way to school. The arrest led to a conviction and a long prison sentence. Years later the girls came forward and recanted their story. They skipped school that morning and made up the abduction story to keep from getting in trouble at home. One lie led to another and an innocent man’s life was ruined.
In the world of #metoo where every accusation must be believed unconditionally, it might be important to remember that false accusations do happen—for a myriad of reasons. At the same time, abusers do exist—in abundance—and many walk free. All allegations should be taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. But we are not the investigators in this case. Who should we believe?
This leads us to the prayer dilemma that any conscientious Christian must face—how do I even know what to pray for? In the world of politics, people are not always what they seem to be. Those we thought were friends can end up foes.
The joy in all of this is that we pray to an all-wise, omniscient God. What we do not know—He does. My practice over the years in praying for our nation, elections, and even Supreme Court nominations is to ask God to frustrate the plans of those who would seek to do evil, and protect the righteous for His glory. I have to leave it up to the all-knowing God to decide who is who.
Amen and amen. As a church we were praying for a similar situation with a church member’s family member who had been accused. Our prayer was for the truth to come to light. It did, he was indeed guilty and said so.
Kevin, Excellent observation and reminder.
“People think that children would tell right away and that they would tell everything that happened to them. In reality, children often keep this secret for years, sometimes into their adulthood, sometimes forever.” Rachel Mitchell, in an interview for this website. She has been hired to question Kavanaugh and Blasey Ford on behalf of the all-male GOP Judiciary Committee. Perhaps you should pray for her to do her job with the utmost clarity and justice. https://www.proclaimanddefend.org/2012/03/19/interview-with-rachel-mitchell-part-1/
To all, some comments on this article do not follow our policy. Some were negative, some were positive. We’ve trashed all of them because of failing to follow our comments policy. Please read, see the comments menu on the masthead. Also please note, snide sarcasm is not an argument. We will not post comments that spew vitriol in any way. The internet has plenty of that elsewhere, we don’t need it here.
Thank you
Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3
Sara, you are right. I think that is exactly the way that we should pray. Clarity and justice should prevail, no matter what predetermined outcome any of us might want.
Thank you for a good article. People, of course, sometimes lie. In fact, some people even have a reputation of lying frequently. That is not the case, however, with the people in the center of this hearing in Washington today.
I am praying for God’s Will to be done. I am praying for acceptance of whatever His decision may be. And I am remembering that we are all God’s children, regardless of our political party or political beliefs.
I have my own feelings about who is being truthful, but my feelings are not necessarily accurate predictors of the truth. I even have feelings about who I want to “win” in today’s hearing. (No doubt my feelings and desires are more about me and my experiences than about the folks in the news today.)
But I must put these selfish, self-serving motives aside. I do not KNOW who is right or wrong. I pray that God guides everyone who participates today and that all involved will open themselves to be a clear channel, to be guided by Him.