The Inauguration: Whose Side Are You On?

​by Laura Cowan

The Inauguration, and the gamut of responses- mine included, reminds me of a conversation between Joshua and the Lord.  

Joshua asks the Lord, "Are you on our side, or allied with our enemy?" 
The Lord replies, “No;" 

I find this answer humorous. "No." as in, "Wrong question, buddy." While this word has also been translated to say, "Neither," I think there's deeper meaning to the original translation. I think it spurs us to focus on the right questions. 

I did a little research on all our past presidents and their terms of office. Among them, I found acts of moral corruption, fraud, extortion, embezzlement, and every kind of evil; along with acts of courage, heroism, and justice and kindness. Some presidents were abhorred, others adored, and many were both.  

Through it all, we have continued to exist, and will, until, as the Lord said to Joshua, 
"No; but I am the Commander in Chief of the army of the LORD and NOW I HAVE COME." Loud speakers will continue to thunder our national anthem until the Lord pulls the plug. 

I vote, I pray, and I "honor the king" (though it's a tough discipline some years); but may my response to things outside my control be as Joshua's was in that encounter: "Joshua fell on his face to the earth in reverence and worshipped Him, and said, "What does my Lord say to His servant?" (Joshua 5:13,`14)

A better question than, "Whose side are you on?" is "How shall I now live?" The answer remains this: In Christ.  We take our cues from the One, "in whom we live and move and have our being." 
"Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Have respectful fear of God. Honor the emperor." 1 Peter 2:17
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(That verse should keep me busy for at least a lifetime).