When it comes to the protection of human life, the inherit dignity of every individual, equal human rights, and the responsibility to protect and support the most vulnerable among us my views are quite strong. My convictions on this are not confined to politics and I believe they are things that go beyond any political party affiliation and should be a part of every day life and how I treat people. My convictions of this have made me, for the most part, a single issue voter for over a decade now when these things are brought into politics. In the areas of this that overlap into politics, if a candidate could be in a position that can have an impact on that issue and they are not for that issue, then I will not vote for them. Period.

For many years I was very much involved in politics and how this topic was treated in policies and laws. So much so that I even worked briefly on Capitol Hill with politicians and policy makers. I was so caught up in the whole political game and tracking what bills were or were not passed and what politicians were for or against things. My OCD made me fixated on this to the point that I was upset and deeply burdened when things didn’t pass in states that I hadn’t even been to before. Me being upset wasn’t just “oh my politician or bill that I was for didn’t win”, it was more a sense of deep sadness for the potential loss of human life and people’s ignorance of basic facts. I would become angry and would dwell on those things and it made me very cynical and jaded. I often had the constant attitude of “the whole country is going to hell in a handbasket”. It upset me to my core and I didn’t like the person I had become.

Being a man of faith, this was something that I often brought to the Lord in my prayers. Gradually, the Lord gave me new insight and helped me to change how I reacted to things and how I allowed things to affect me.  He made me realize that no matter how upset I got about the politics related to this, I had no control over the situations other than voting. He made me realize that me worrying over it didn’t change anything. He showed me that all my emotions could be used towards something that could actually make a difference. He reminded me of a college ministry retreat I had gone on years before where we went through the book of Nehimiah. At the time I thought that nothing applicable could come from that book and that it was quite boring. Who cares about how they rebuilt a wall or city? But God brought back that book to my mind and showed me how I could apply it to my life years later.

In the account of the people of Israel rebuilding the wall, it is said that the men worked on rebuilding the portion of the wall or gate that was in front of, or opposite their house. It also says they worked on the portion that was in their “district”.  It gives a list of who was next to who going down the line working on the wall nearest to them. Meremoth son of Uriah, the son of Hakkoz wasn’t concerned with what Jedaiah son of Harumaph was working on in front of his house. Every person focused on the work that needed to be done in their area, and with each person doing their part, the city walls and gates were rebuilt in only 52 days  (I doubt that could even be done that quickly today). How does this apply to the topic at hand? God used that as an example to me to show me that my efforts and my focus regarding the issues I had strong convictions of needed to be spent on what needed to be done in my area, what was needed across from me or in my district, within my sphere of influence. He showed me that I didn’t need to concern myself with what was going on in South Dakota, or Ohio, or California. Those were not in my areas or my spheres of influence. He had me where I was for a reason and there was work to be done there. Sure other people might be called by Him to go to other places to help, but for me, he was showing me that I needed to stay and focus on my area. Once I realized that, I felt like a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I was able to recognize how easily the enemy could use those distractions to make me ineffective where God had placed me. When I had this revelation, I looked around and God opened up multiple opportunities for me to contribute to help the most vulnerable and most endangered in our society.

And when elections come around every few years, the evil one tempts me with the distractions of what is going on in other areas. Although my convictions and frustrations of what is happening elsewhere are justified and righteous, my efforts are needed where the Lord has me planted. Election season always brings back that distraction and it is something I must always be careful of.

I write this to anyone who might find themselves struggling with political frustration, election anger and anxiety, or the constant weight of everything that happens in our country. It is easy to become consumed by what is happening everywhere and it is easy to spend so much time worrying about things outside our control that we neglect the work and purpose the Lord has placed in front of us. We may not be able to influence what happens in every state or every part of the country, but we can make a difference in our own communities, our churches, our neighborhoods, and in the lives of the people God has placed around us.

I will end this with a quote that J.R.R. Tolkien’s character Gandalf uses in the book The Return of the King:

“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.”