Which Supreme Court?

I only had a chance to go inside the Supreme Court one time when I was a senior in high school and we took a tour on our senior trip to Washington D.C. I remember thinking how very dark the interior was. There was a massive wood panel in front of the room, and a table polished to a high sheen. Dark padded chairs were lined up along it. The chairs were empty, of course, since court was not in session. There was a very solemn feel about the weight of what happened in this room. 

Decisions happened here, decisions that were carefully weighed and considered and affected many, many people, sometimes for generations. The people who usually sat in those chairs were given a great deal of responsibility, and the weight of a nation rested often on the meting out of their justice. 

While I was praying, the Lord led me to another, and higher, Supreme Court, described in Daniel 7:9-10. 

"As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took His seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before Him. Thousands upon thousands attended Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened." 

What a contrast!! - between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court! When the Ancient of Days takes His seat, and when the court is seated, and when the books are opened, what a solemn and glorious weight there is of what happens in this courtroom, in this Supreme Court, where God is the ultimate Judge, the Ancient of Days! 

I put a post on Facebook the other day that concerned our focus as a church. It stemmed out of a warning I sensed after this past Saturday's prayer marches in Washington, D.C, and I wrote out my thoughts. Since I wanted to have record of those thoughts on my blog, I'm going to paste that piece here at the end of this post. Meanwhile, that sense of warning feeds into this thought here: Where are we placing our confidence and our focus? The whole of America is in turmoil over the Supreme Court nomination (and a few other things), and while the subject is important, where do we have our confidence? Which court is supreme in our minds? I would have loved to have watched a Supreme Court session, when the justices would file in and take their seats and hear their cases. But how much greater will it be when the Ancient of Days sits on His throne and the whole earth stands before Him?! 

And then... the best part of the whole courtroom session. After the solemnity of the seating of the Ancient of Days, after the court is seated, after the books are opened, after the antichrist is judged and stripped of his authority and cast out... 

"There was one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power; all peoples, nations, and men of every language worshiped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will NOT pass away, and His kingdom is one that will NEVER be destroyed!" 

Hallelujah! How I long for that day!

*** 

(My Facebook post):

It is so. tempting. to let myself relax in the glow of yesterday's prayer marches, the things I heard coming across the live feed as I listened to pastor and leader after pastor and leader pray for our nation.

There IS true repentance, there IS a longing for the Spirit to cleanse us, and that's amazing. That's Your heartbeat, Lord. 

But I heard a warning this morning, and I'm not sure how to take it. And I'm troubled by it.
As I was praying over the events of yesterday, I saw one of those mine-carts typical of the 1849 gold rush, or old Hollywood movies about mines. There was a cart full and nearly overflowing with treasures and gold, gems and jewels. It rattled along a track that stretched across the map of the U.S., and oddly enough... it rattled right back into the mine where it had come from.

It was so odd that I pushed the picture away and chalked it up to not having had breakfast yet. But it kept coming back continuously as I prayed.

So I decided to accept it as from the Lord, and started considering it. The gems had already been mined; they should have been on their way to refineries, and then to jewelers, and from there into the hands of consumers. They should NOT have been dumped back in the mine cart and sent back to where they'd been dug out.

I asked the Lord why the treasure was going back to where it had come from.

This is what I heard, and please keep in mind that it's in the words of a sinner saved by grace, and my own slant will color it a little. But I trust that it's issued by the Lord and His Spirit living in me: "I've told you not to return to where you came from. Stop being like Lot's wife, looking back at her lost possessions. Stop wishing that things could go back to where they were. Stop wishing for comfort and security. See, I have brought you into a new place, and you can't even see it because you are constantly looking back over your shoulder at the peace and security you'd surrounded yourself with before. HERE is where I want to work through you, HERE is where I have my plan for you, but you won't see it when your gaze is backward-trained. Put away your materials and your comforts and your national security. I AM the all-surpassing treasure that fills you up."

Y'all, this tore me up. I listened to many pastors and leaders praying yesterday for a stripping away of things that kept us as a nation from the Lord, and I added my yes and amen to them, but I heard others pray for a return to the blessings of America, to the erstwhile glory of America, and I... just couldn't get behind it.

So the glow was tainted for me. The focus is still in the wrong place for many people. I wanted to lay down my arms yesterday and say, Hallelujah, the work is (mostly) done. People are repenting, the nation is turning to God! But instead I sensed that there is still this desire in many for comfort rather than conviction, for security rather than for spiritual fire. I sensed that many were placing their focus and their hope, maybe not even consciously, but still effectively in political might and not in the Lord.

Where is our focus? When Peter stepped out of the boat, where was his focus? He started out strong, kept his eyes on the Lord. You might have noticed that in the storm, at first he didn't recognize Jesus UNTIL Jesus spoke to him. "Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid." 

Dear Peter. I can't help but love his impulsive conviction; he reminds me so much of me. Doubt-filled one second, on-fire all-out passionate the next. Walking on water with his eyes fixed on Jesus one second, blubbering and gulping sea-water the next. What a roller-coaster.

Where are we standing? Are we on the safe planks of the ship's deck where we can feel the railing beneath our hands? Or are we on a liquid substance that should by all physics have us sinking but isn't letting us, and our "trust is without borders"?

Lord, turn us back to You and You alone. Psalm 20:7: "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." Let us get rid of this notion that our nation is on par with the King of kings. Yes, You do Your will and orchestrate Your plans in the ways You wish, and sometimes You use nations and kings, but You are above them all, and I thank You that we don't have to rely on a fallen, human, and corrupt system of government. I thank You that we are servants of Your kingdom, which is not. of. this. world. Let us keep our focus on where it needs to be!