As the debate began, I found myself overwhelmed with a feeling of sadness, but I don’t think it was mine.
Earlier in the evening, I was picking up some items at a local store and two young boys walked past me. They had their skateboards and backpacks and were talking to each other. I say they were boys because they weren’t over 12 years old.
I heard one say to the other, “Did you find what you need?” A moment later they walked past me. As I smiled at them I saw the boxes of condoms in their hands.
A heaviness fell upon me.
While in this very moment the nation watches two less than ideal people argue rather than debate, there could be two boys, not men, having sex with two young girls, not women. Children who haven’t learned to drive yet, who aren’t of an age to vote or have a say are having sex.
This is something I think God cares about.
While our candidates continue to berate each other and focus on each other, children are being left alone in a world that will destroy them at the first chance it gets. God cares about this.
When I saw those boys turn the corner and walk away, my heart longed to save them, to rescue them from the heartbreak that they had no idea would come from the choices our culture tells them is no big deal. I stood there shocked at the state of our country, of our children, of our hearts.
I know this is the season of arguing and debating and I am certain someone will have something to say in opposition to me. Go ahead, but I didn’t write this for me. I wrote this because I think God cares about much more important things than what this election is forcing us to focus on. Does He care about all the issues on the table, absolutely. However, I know He is a much more intimate God than what we give Him credit for.
Do you think He cares about two young boys with condoms in one store in one small city in one big country? Do you even think He cares at all?
That is an important question for you. I knew in that moment, I could not go to those boys. But I knew that I know the one who could. I know God heard me when I asked Him to intervene in their lives as well as the young girls they were going to. I knew He heard my prayer because I believe He gave me eyes to see them.
What have your eyes seen lately?
No matter what happens in this election, I believe God cares about all of the people who walk the streets lost and without hope. You, me, and especially our children.
We need to vote, but even more so we need to love the broken and stop arguing with each other. How God loves the world doesn’t change regardless of whose in charge and shouldn’t change how we love either.
God gave me a gift in the brokenness tonight to show me a little of what His heart must see and feel. I am praying for those boys. They may not be able to vote or drive, but they are precious to God. So this small blog post is my way of giving them a say, even if they will never know it.
God’s love isn’t political, and I hope our love won’t be either.
