SHUT DOWN

There's an obsolete use of the word 'GOVERNMENT'. At one time it meant "moral conduct or behavior; discretion".
Based on that definition, sometimes it seems as if there already IS a shut down.

A lot of people are fearful today because the entity within which they put their trust is appearing to be unstable, uncaring, childish, and selfish. The news reports seem to be assisting in creating an atmosphere of anxiety. It is a wake up to reconsider just who gets top billing in one's mind and heart. 
Government is doing things that it was never established to do, and as a result, has become to go-to guy for everything. When it fails to function, people tend to lose it. It is a god to many, and many forget who's really in control--and who has always sustained them in the past.

People are suffering, worried, and facing what looks like the end of their world. Perhaps their identities lie in the positions they hold. Perhaps they have overextended themselves financially. Perhaps their plans have been indefinitely placed on hold. Perhaps something may have to be sacrificed.
Every misfortune, however, is not the result of an individual's wrongdoing or poor choices. Power in the hands of people who have forgotten that they are servants can be dangerous. It can also be a blessing in disguise. Oppression has a way of stirring up the survivor in a person. Lack of trust has a way of inspiring one to take precautions. Trouble can be a mighty motivator. It may even guide you to where you are supposed to be.

As I pray for leaders, I'd hate to think that people are delighting in making others squirm. You never want to think that people are deliberately causing hardship, or hoping that others suffer. Then it occurred to me that someone has used all of their leave. Someone needs a vacation. Someone needs more time with their family. Someone desperately needs rest. Someone has been putting off retirement. Someone has asked God for a change. Someone secretly desires to move. Someone has been going to work ill. Someone has had a toxic situation in the office. Someone has been spending a fortune on gasoline. What may seem like the political posturing of uncaring, spoiled, uncooperative leaders just MAY be divine intervention.

God is still sovereign. He says don't worry. He says trust him. Sounds like a plan.

Never be so arrogant as to think that another person's success or failure lies in your hands or depends upon your support. What looks like despair, rejection, sure failure and defeat to you--even if you orchestrated it-- may be a divine set up, and in the end, the only person you can depend on will be the person you put down, laughed at, cast out, ignored, oppressed, or tried to destroy. Read about Joseph in Genesis 37-50...and trust God.