but God

Joseph’s brothers realized what their father’s death could mean. So they thought, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us? What if he decides to pay us back for all the evil we did to him?” They sent a messenger to Joseph to say, “Before your father died, he commanded us, ‘This is what you should say to Joseph, “I’m begging you to forgive the crime and the sin your brothers committed against you. What they did to you was very evil.” ’ So now, please forgive our crime, because we are servants of your father’s God.” Joseph cried when he got their message. Then his brothers also came and immediately bowed down in front of him. “We are your slaves!” they said. Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid! I can’t take God’s place. Even though you planned evil against me, God planned good to come out of it. This was to keep many people alive, as he is doing now. Don’t be afraid! I will provide for you and your children.” In this way he reassured them, setting their minds at ease.
Genesis 50:15-21 GW

Oregon has a political party super-majority. Our state, like many others, consists of rural conservatives and urban liberals. The division between these two philosophies runs roughly ten percentage points in the liberal’s favor – though during today’s climate it may run lower – with several independent parties. Due to the minority party not using legally available means to resist overreach, the conservatives have little recourse.

The Founding Fathers structured our national constitution so that no one branch of government had absolute power — this is true of the states also. Oregon is finding out the hard way.

If one party can call all the shots, then the other party can feel hopeless. Conservatives’ many needs are not met. Short-term solutions can involve civil disobedience or peaceful protest to garner the attention of the supermajority. Convoys in some localities this weekend are an example. A few long-haul solutions mean solving gerrymandering issues, the eastern and southern counties ceding to Idaho, or voting in more local elections.

This week, leading up to the convoy at the capital today, Oregonians are praying for a return to a lawful government.

Joseph was rent from his family for approximately twenty years. His brothers were jealous of him and sold him as a slave. They convinced his father that Joseph was dead when presented with his coat covered by animal blood.

After Jacob died (his family reunited before he did), his brothers came before him starving and humbled. Just as he had dreamed metaphorically of unhealthy wheat stalks and cows many years before. Evil had been done, but God had a plan to save his family and descendants from decimation.

Just as Joseph reunited with his family, Oregon can reunite under the hand of God.

Prayer should be our first, middle, and last response for redress. Wisdom comes from petitioning the Lord for redress. He hears the cries of conservative Oregonians who come before Him in humility. Only He can give us the strategy to return us all to working together. It is a given some will not want to work together, and God will have wisdom for that too.

Division can be healed. Just ask Joseph.