And it’s one, two, three, what are we fighting for
Don’t ask me I don’t give a damn, next stop is Viet Nam
And it’s five, six, seven, open up the pearly gates
Ain’t no time to wonder why, whoopee we’re all gonna die. (“Feeling Like I’m Fixing to Die Rag” by Country Joe and the Fish)
For me, the 1960’s began with me attending high school in a small Illinois farming community. Sports. Girls. Studying. Cars. Just a normal kid in a small high school of two hundred students.
My parents were like most other parents in our small community, in that they were politically conservative, family oriented and loved America. Like most children, my parents’ values helped to shape my own.
Then, I went off to the University of Illinois. 30,000 students. No parents. Not many rules. Politically-stimulating environment. Free thinking. And I changed. I became a disenchanted liberal who not only hated the Vietnam War, but I also believed that America was no longer a good nation. And I had no problem with lambasting America’s leaders for not doing what I thought was correct.
The years passed and I met Jesus in 1985.
Now, the outward appearance for most of our youthful rebellion generally disappears when we start paying taxes and having children of our own. This was especially true for me.
But the Lord does not look at our outward appearances, He looks at our hearts and its motives. And one afternoon in 1995, He showed me my heart and said, “Because of your 1960’s rebellious attitudes, you do not like America. Because of this, you never prophesy good things for America, only bad. You need to repent and change.”
How fast can a person change? I wept. I prayed for forgiveness. I did what I could do to change my mindset as quickly as possible. And the Lord helped me by walking me through a fourteen year wilderness. A wilderness that is just now ending.
Here’s some free advice: if you have any rebellion in your heart against any type of authority, cry out to the Lord for deliverance. This rebellion is bound to cause you problems in the future; and these problems will stop you from getting prayers answered.
Swimming Upstream appears at this blog site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s a little of this and a little of that, all written to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian jouneys.
Larry Who 