Wait on the Lord

Posted on by charliej373

By Charlie Johnston

I had a piece I was going to put up last Saturday. I decided against it because everyone was so busy chasing after every passing rabbit I thought it would make more sense to wait until they had worn themselves down a little. I’m not going to put up the serious, more lengthy piece until tomorrow. But a couple of thoughts are in order…

First, the good news. Last week I gave it a 60-40 shot that Donald Trump will ultimately prevail in this battle. I have upped my assessment to 70-30…precisely because his team is not chasing after every rabbit that goes by in panicked hope of trying to salvage a lost cause, but is working solid evidence of systemic fraud with hard evidence and penetrating statistical analysis. 

People are deeply shaken – including those delusional chumps who are celebrating a Potemkin victory for Biden. Many Christians are deeply shaken because of their certainty that God would ensure Trump’s re-election. Early on election day, I published a piece, which included the following two paragraphs that I hope you will ponder deeply:

“I also have heard more than a few serious Christians suggest that Donald Trump will win this election because God will ensure it. Generally, I don’t think God intervenes in elections, preferring to let them reveal what is in the hearts of the people. On the rare occasions He does, it is by moving on hearts, not by fixing the results. My belief that Trump will prevail in big fashion tonight is purely a political assessment, borne of analytical matrixes that I am not as confident of as I once was. The spiritual perspective gives me great pause – for I think it quite likely that, from that standpoint, that God would harden hearts enough to let the atheist left take control. Think about it: throughout salvation history, when man has moved far enough from God that He lets them reap the consequences of their infidelity, He usually does not intervene on their behalf until a solid core of the people turn back to Him with their whole hearts. Do you think we are there yet? Or even close to there? Would it better serve God’s purpose in humbling us to give us a fighting chance to right this ship – or to let us run it into the ground before He intervenes for us? A very common thing is to think that what we think would be the best outcome is also how God would prefer it be done. But God’s ways are not our ways. What our duty is, is to stay faithful and trust in His providence whatever happens...

…I am divided this time, in a way I have never before been, over my spiritual analysis of the present moment and my political analysis of the same. What I know is that God does NOT manifest His will by doing what I think is best. He simply demands that I trust Him and persist in acknowledging Him, taking the next right step, and being a sign of hope to those around me regardless of how closely my opinion of what is best matches up with His plan – and it pleases Him especially to see whether I will persist in those things when His plan turns out to be diametrically opposite of what I think is best.“

For a very long time, I have emphasized that God’s ways are not our ways, that we must be very deliberate in these times. We are being disabused of our soothing delusions. When we say we trust in God, what we usually mean is that we are certain we know God’s mind and He will arrange things the way we think best. Nope. When we say someone is holy, we usually mean that he is “like me” – with our crabbed understanding of what holy actually is. Different people have different charisms and I have always encouraged people to discern and live their charism well, but to know that the charism God assigns to each of us is as distinct, intimate and personal as our face and our name. I tell you, if whatever you do is designed to convince you that you are the Divine Teacher’s pet and use your efforts to sneer at those who are not like you, when the judgment comes the Lord will tell you to depart from Him, for He never knew you. And doing a thousand more Novenas won’t help. Only changing your heart will help.

Most people so lack discernment between authentic and obviously inauthentic prophecy that they are confused by those that are obviously heretical and contrary to Scripture. Those that do have discernment mostly come from the “run, Spot, run” school of prophetic interpretation and so improperly interpret authentic prophecy.

We are vain and foolish, always trying to prove our supremacy – and are obsessed with showing that our many comical pratfalls were not pratfalls at all. Since we do not seem to learn from this, is it any wonder that God is forcing the issue for us all? Only fools and knaves lose confidence in God – though many have good reason for a loss of confidence right now. But the confidence you have lost is the false confidence in yourself – in your certainty that you know the mind of God and that He could not possibly come up with a plan that is more sophisticated and effective than the one you have devised and wrongly attributed to Him. God is pruning us all – and those who will accept it have the opportunity to grow wise.

Understand that you are going to be wrong in your assessment in many more things before we reach the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. God does not need your prowess or might, just your fidelity and humble willingness to get up again in His service after every stumble.

Be diligent, be faithful, take the initiative, knowing that you will err, but calling on and trusting God to mold even your errors into fruit for His service when you humbly acknowledge Him and your own feet of clay.

When I was a little boy, I often pondered the long car trips we occasionally took on vacation or to friend’s houses that were distant from us. I could not fathom how Dad could possibly know all the turns and roads to get us to the exact right place – and in all kinds of weather, too. But he did every time. So when I got into the car, I did not know how he did it, but I trusted that he did…and that trust was well justified.

This is a time for sober contemplation. Not a one of us knows the route God has chosen to get us to the Triumph as well as we think we do. But do not let your disappointment when the route God chooses is not the same as the one you thought He would lead you to doubt Him. He knows what He is doing.

We have a lot of work before us. Be deliberate, not jumping after every passing rumor, knowing that truth will stand the test of examination. So test all things. Tomorrow’s piece will be about current events – but tested in the template I have here described.

Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage and He will strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.

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273 thoughts on “Wait on the Lord”

  1. I want to thank all for precious prayers!…….I did not think I would be back to soon but the evening news came on and I see that Francis has called Joe Biden and congratulated him on winning the presidency. I guess that he is so happy about it that he just could not wait. I thought I could no longer be surprised by Francis, but here we go again.

    Liked by 6 people

      1. Many years ago a priest gifted me with a print of this painting. It is very powerful. There is no victory without the cross.

        Liked by 6 people

        1. Wow, Judith! Stunning beauty and exactly the message we need to embrace to get through this Storm.

          Because Charlie has been and will continue to give his all as our Sherpa, I’m going to start adding a tag line/prayer to my comments and replies which connects with this powerful image.

          Passion of Christ, strengthen Charlie.

          Liked by 6 people

          1. Now I am trying to refrain myself from this comment, but I will post it this time: If Biden becomes a duly elected President of USA, many bishop and Pope himself in the first place will have blood of the unborn on their hands…

            Liked by 4 people

            1. Sadly, Pawel, whether or not Biden is inaugurated, too many Catholics, from the laity to the clergy to the highest positioned cardinals, are already in the situation you describe. While we acknowledge this reality, let us continue to pray for major conversions and work the beam in each of our own eyes.

              Passion of Christ, strengthen Charlie.

              Liked by 4 people

        2. Do you ever get a feeling that perhaps God just knew you’d need this kind of encouragement all those many years ago for these present moments….similar things have happened to me. It’s something, something to ponder.

          God = Love

          Liked by 4 people

          1. Littlelight, the priest gave me this print because even then I had passed through turmoil that is too difficult, complicated and lengthy to describe here. ….. I had just come out of the confessional, but I also spent a long time telling the priest “my story”. He told me to wait a moment, left the church and went into the office. He came back with the print of Jesus because I needed it then. I often look at it now and remember that period in my life. I realize that this was the period when my deep faith was forged because I was an empty vessel ready to be filled up. One of my counselors said that he had never met anyone with so many losses. And when I lost my job, he told me to come back and he would treat me without cost. Other doctors gave me a greatly reduced rate. I was in the depths of the valley of suffering and reached out to Our Lord and Lady. While in this deep valley, I received many signs and graces which I never thought possible. I met a women with the gift of discernment of spirits and, also, the gift of healing, and after a Mass she prayed over me. I was slain in the spirit for the first time and felt a great warmth enter my body along with tremendous peace. When I stood up again, I experienced the gift of tears, and it was an ocean of tears. She had prayed that the Lord would send me a friend “to help me deal with my fear, frustration and loneliness” . I was stunned that she summed up my life in one sentence even though she had never set eyes upon me. I was expecting a human friend, but as time when on, it was clear that she had sent me the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit worked greatly in my life for 2 to 3 years while I experienced PTSD and other health problems. It was after this that I was lead to become a teacher. But not until I was whole again…..About 10 years into the teaching job, I was asked to translate a book about the life of a holy priest, Father Peter M. Rookey. I started doing that with a team of translators that I had gathered. It was only a few weeks later, in late July or early August, that my body began to become numb, as if it were going under anesthesia. The numbness was under my breastbone and then progressed done to my ankles and up to my face. I ran to the ER at that point. I was diagnosed with MS 5 months later after many tests. My other translators also became ill. The main translators were hit the hardest. One developed very strange symptoms which later manifested as a brain tumor. Two landed in the hospital. Another’s son became ill We all realized that we were under spiritual attack because we were all getting hit at once….. I guess God needed us to carry these physical crosses more than that book needed to be translated at the time……I have often been quite ill but God lead me to good doctors. As I look back, Our Blessed Mother and Christ never abandoned me. For a while it seemed like they had, but they eventually showed me that they were with me via some sort of unexpected but definitive sign that I would recognize…..So now I am very weary again with life and its trials and sadness. I was looking at this print today and decided I should share it with the board. Carrying crosses can be very hard, and all of us carry them at one time or another, but there is no victory without the cross…..It really is a powerful image and a powerful message…..Again thank you all for the precious prayers. I am sure there are many others on the board who need them as well.

            Liked by 3 people

            1. Wow, Judith. What a beautiful and powerful witness to faith, hope and love. What impresses me most is how you look upon our brothers and sisters and acknowledge that each of us have a share in Christ’s Cross. Blessed are they who will weather the Storm with you nearby. Blessed are we in this community who are buoyed by your sharing, your wisdom and your care for us.

              Liked by 4 people

            2. What a testimony to love and God you are!! TY most heartily for sharing that print, and a bit of your courage. I pray you and yours can find peace, renewal, strength and joy here. We all need you more than you know.

              Liked by 4 people

            4. stjudithwanttobe, thank you for sharing your remarkable and inspiring witness stories. ❤ I am keeping you and your in my prayers.

              I had the pleasure of attending a healing Mass with Father Rookey as the presider and it was profound.

              Father Rookey, pray for us.

              Liked by 3 people

    2. Wow Judith, if that’s true… I was thinking this morning that the only piece that was missing after US bishops congratulated prematurely Biden, was our current Pope doing so, but I refrained myself from posting such a comment. I thought I would go too far with such irony. But I guess we are living in the times when irony becomes reality.

      Liked by 3 people

            2. Move over Pachamama. Make room for the idolatrous creed that’s joining you at the bottom of the Tiber.

              Here’s praying that the priest’s superior reigns him in and corrects this idiotic, grave error.

              Liked by 2 people

  3. This is a follow up to San San’s post above re: status in the House as of today Nov. 12:

    https://www.270towin.com/news/2020/11/12/117th-congress-partisan-composition-us-house-state_1129.html

    “Therefore, Republicans will have 26 or 27 majorities, Democrats 20 and there will be 3 or 4 ties.”

    Looks like Dems have seen their delegate lead move to split between the Republicans.

    If the Republicans stick together and the Supreme Court and Mike Pence do what they need to do then Trump will be re-elected.

    Interesting point made by Pam Bondi: This is why the Democrat members in the House are spitting mad at Nancy Pelosi. The Blue Wave turned out to be a mirage. Gonna cost them the White House in spite of the immense effort to steal the vote.

    Liked by 6 people

  4. Hey I am letting all my prayer warriors know that the link below is the prayers that Father Ripperger really is asking us to pray you can watch the actual podcast on youtube but at the 30-minute mark he says that and the reason why. I know most people are inundated with not being able to watch the whole thing. Fr. Heilman reworked the prayers so we won’t get blowback concerning praying prayers of command that we don’t have the authority to pray and so we can pray this reworked prayer Fr. Ripperger is asking that it be prayed every day until this election gets resolved but also doing what is also listed to so some awesome things for us to do and be joy-filled and hopeful Gods got this are we all in or what?? PLEASE SHARE THIS AND PASS IT ON IT’S LIKE LEPANTO
    BUCKLE UP!
    https://usgraceforce.com/grace-force-podcast-episode-64-fr-ripperger-fighting-back-against-the-satanic-mob/

    Liked by 4 people

  5. Trying again to post Fr Pacwa’s incredible homily.
    Me paraphrasing: it seems to me he says socialism (idealism) doesn’t work, defund the police doesn’t work. Why?, because of original sin. And all of the intense hatred? because they hate themselves. HIs homily starts at 5:45. (or go to youtube.com and search for ewtn homily archives)

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  6. Sorry to hear Francis has called Sleepy Joe. Just wanted to reiterate since I posted this on older comments. Please go to Doug Barry Fr. Heilmen and Fr. Rippinger.. on you tube. Posted yesterday. Defeating the Satanic Mob. Father Rippenger is saying fast and pray. If I knew how to post it hear I would. This whole thing is Demonic, Satan wants the United States. Pray For Pres. Trump. please,
    If we get behind him we will win.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Actually I have read that this particular ruling only invalidates a relatively small number of ballots. There are more suits before the court. Still, it is nice to see some law applied to this situation.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. That may be true that this case only invalidates a small number of ballots. However, it is still an incredibly important ruling because the state judge ruled that only the legislature has the authority to change state election law. Thus, the Secretary of State acted illegally by essentially altering the law. By extension to a case not before that state judge, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court also acted illegally when it ignored the law and ordered the acceptance of mail-in ballots–even without postmarks–until November 6. Although Justice Roberts joined with the 3 liberals in allowing that travesty to stand, there are now 5 US Supreme Court justices whom I strongly suspect will take this state judge’s ruling quite seriously and vote to take the case back up. Praying….

        Liked by 4 people

          1. Ha, Kim! James Ignatius McAuley, Jack Hiller, and JT Brannigan would probably make better legal observations; I just regurgitated what I had read in an article on RedState. 🙂

            Liked by 2 people

            1. Mick–it’s so nice to have lots of attorneys around the house–and you can’t diminish my admiration for you.

              I liked to watch the Addams Family back in the day–I liked them better than the Munsters because Gomez and Morticia were so romantic. One time, after Thing helped her with something, Morticia sang “It’s so nice to have a Thing around the house”.

              Liked by 3 people

              1. You’re sweet, Kim. And I also liked the Addams Family more than the Munsters. My favorite characters were Lurch, Thing, and Cousin It.

                Liked by 1 person

  9. JESUS = GOOD NEWS! … 😉

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/11/catholic-exorcist-fr-chad-ripperger-calls-faithful-recite-prayer-bind-evil-spirits-satanic-forces-election-oddities-resolved/

    https://cnsnews.com/article/washington/melanie-arter/gop-senator-nothing-worry-about-unless-youre-taxpayer-parent-cop

    https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/anti-christian-transgender-extremists-elected-to-state-governments-across-the-country

    https://townhall.com/
    https://amgreatness.com/
    https://www.americanthinker.com/
    https://www.powerlineblog.com/

    GOD SAVE THE REPUBLIC & ALL HERE!

    Liked by 3 people

  10. Good Morning!

    Starting the Christ the King Novena today!

    Steve, read your response about you saying your momma will go home soon and God knows the best time. Fr. Benedict Groeachel (sp?) said on EWTN many years ago that God takes each of us at the absolute best time for our souls even if it doesn’t look like it outwardly. We need to believe that.

    I also wanted to respond to frustrations about medical treatment by docs. Being married to one, I get it. But please be aware there are bureaucratic panels, etc. in control also. Docs are fined large sums and threatened with loosing their licenses if they go against “standards of care” in some cases. And don’t get me started on “patient satisfaction scores”. Meaning payments to docs, hospitals, etc are tide to the satisfaction of the patient. Get an unhappy patient who didn’t like that their doc didn’t give them what they wanted…… That can be frightening when you owe upwards of $200,000.00 in med school debt. It’s also the way docs are trained in med schools. The system is broken.

    Just keep praying!!

    Liked by 3 people

    2. I was long close friends with a prominent doctor in northeastern Illinois. We would get together for a private lunch twice a month along with other social events. I was horrified with the increasingly bureaucratic dictates doctors were getting from government – that decidedly affected (and diminished the quality of) patient care. Those things went into hyper-drive with Obamacare. A lot of older doctors went early into retirement rather than try to fight the battle that forced them to care less for their patients. I remember one lunch the Doc told me with outrage that the govt. was limiting how much time he could spend with each patient – as he explained that diagnosis is as much art as science and that the diminished visit times (in the name of efficiency) were going to result in misdiagnoses and incomplete diagnoses. What fools we are to have consigned ourselves to the tender mercies of our govt. overlords.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Charlie, I have people say, oh, good, now I can get on Medicare, and they breathe a sigh of relief because they don’t have to deal with insurance any more or pay much, and I roll my eyes. Desmond talks about bad philosophy, well, here it is. I don’t hate much in this world, but government-sponsored and -controlled healthcare I do hate, with an absolute passion. It has killed hundreds of millions of people over the decades, covered over many good remedies, trained us to use bad remedies in many cases, and is controlled by the evil elites. To let your government control your health care decisions for a little convenience and some lower costs is literally insane. The doctors are as much a victim as the patients. Their initiative and creativity and compassion get crushed by the system to the point where they get Stockholm syndrome or something very similar and willingly aid in the process of poisoning people and taking their money. It’s such an incredibly subtle corruption of humanity that it can come ultimately only from the mind of the satan. It’s absolutely appalling. Bad philosophy, most unwise.

        Liked by 2 people

    3. We are moving more toward socialist medicine every day. Doctors and Medical personnel are told what they cannot do. Patients are rushed out of the hospital by the 3rd day. Yes, the system is broken.

      Liked by 5 people

    4. Becky-TN, you are absolutely correct. You can see in my other reply to your comment which was to Charlie, that I also believe doctors are crushed by this system. The system is broken and millions have died as a result over the past 100 years. People need to be free to make their own healthcare choices and their doctors need to be free to serve their patients. A new framework that does that would be wonderful.

      Liked by 2 people

  11. “When we say we trust in God, what we usually mean is that we are certain we know God’s mind and He will arrange things the way we think best. Nope.” Charlie, “NOPE” is my favorite sentence. It has taken me a long time to digest this. Who am I to think I can know the mind of God, or to even think that I can tell Him to “fix” things the way I might think is best? HE is the Great I Am, I am not. Nope!

    Liked by 3 people

  12. Good Morning!

    Today’s Gospel from St. Luke:

    Jesus told his disciples a parable
    about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming weary.
    He said, “There was a judge in a certain town
    who neither feared God nor respected any human being.
    And a widow in that town used to come to him and say,
    ‘Render a just decision for me against my adversary.’
    For a long time the judge was unwilling, but eventually he thought,
    ‘While it is true that I neither fear God nor respect any human being,
    because this widow keeps bothering me
    I shall deliver a just decision for her
    lest she finally come and strike me.’”
    The Lord said, “Pay attention to what the dishonest judge says.
    Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones
    who call out to him day and night?
    Will he be slow to answer them?
    I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily.
    But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

    Keep praying, begging and pleading!!

    Like others, I watched the Grace Force Podcast with Fr. Rippenger. I was struck by so many things he said, but found no coincidence in his mentioning St Joan of Arc and Charlie and St Joan. Of all the Saints Fr. Rippenger could have compared, it’s her!!! I suggest others watch it. We have to keep praying. Fr. said, DJT is not a perfect man, but we owe him a great deal for what he has done for us these last 4 years. Prayers, fasting….little things with great love!

    Have a great weekend everyone!

    Liked by 1 person

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Published by charliej373

Charlie Johnston is a former newspaper editor, radio talk show host and political consultant. From Feb. 11, 2011 to Aug. 21, 2012, he walked 3,200 miles across the country, sleeping in the woods, meeting people and praying as he went. He writes on cultural, global and political issues from an orthodox Catholic perspective. He emphasizes that we find God most surely through the ordinary, doing the little things we should with faith and fidelity. His constant refrain is that, to live real joy, we must acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around us. He lives in the Archdiocese of Denver in the United States.