God and Elections
Some people have asked me how I write. Frankly, it often starts with an idea, a sentence or a small section of the larger piece. Often I will wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and I have learned to get up, take my little pocket notebook and scribe it quickly. I suppose this raises the questions as to whether I do my best thinking when I sleep but this happens frequently, in example in what I am presenting below.
As I read the news and commentary from a variety of sources the tension and angst related to this election season is strong as I have ever seen in an election. Perhaps the contrast between two distinct philosophies of government has never been so starkly on display. For the record, I am an independent which means that I am deeply disturbed for various reasons with both major parties. Why, because all of this talk about concern for the middle-class taxpayer us so much hokum. There is more than enough corruption and betrayal of their constituents’ to go around to both sides of the isle. Governance is not their concern rather the goal is political power. The taxpayer is not served by the gaming that occurs at Capitol Hill.
So in short, I am an American voter who has little patience for politicians right now. There are issues of deep substance and long-reaching impact that are being ignored by our ‘leaders’ who act more like ostriches than responsible men and women because their focus is staying in office. They are unwilling to pay the expense of taking stands and finding consensus across the isle to get some work done. Not that anyone is wildly happy about it, but politics is indeed the fine art of compromise. There is give and take; that is just life. However this group of ‘leaders’ have basically poured themselves a concrete base and are cemented to the ground, in one spot. If friends and lovers take this position relationships become impossible. Notice I have not really addressed the Presidential end of this. I have written about this earlier today and honestly I don’t want my head to explode.
There is an important truth for us all to keep in mind as we approach Election Day. It is easy to get really worked up over this election but the simple fact is that the LORD God omnipotent reigns over the earth and in the affairs of men. Or, as the children’s song proclaims, “He has the whole world in His hands…” Our sovereign LORD always does what is right. “Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did He in heaven and in the earth, in the seas and all the deep places.” (Psalms 135:6)
God, doing what is right, may not be what I want. He is omniscient after all and I am limited in comprehension. He sees the whole parade of history from beginning to end where I look from the vantage point of only truly seeing what is past. The only truth I can say with certainty is that at the end of the parade of human history God will make all things right and settle all accounts. Yahweh God is not at the mercy of the will of man but rather will ultimately bring out His will. We are at the mercy of our creator; it has always been so.
As Christians, our first duty is to pray for the nation and to pray for God to bring about His will through those elected. We pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Our privilege as citizens is to express our beliefs with reasonable decorum and civility. We should all vote as we feel is best for this nation. We will disagree with each other but we can disagree agreeably. So our second duty is to remember who we ultimately represent; we are to represent our heavenly Father and bring honor to His name. Sometimes I REALLY have to remind myself of that.
I will throw in one historical illustration to make a final point. Historian Stephen Ambrose who was an official biographer for Dwight Eisenhower told how that when the Battle of the Bulge occurred in December of 1944 many of his generals and staff panicked. Eisenhower didn’t. Why, because he knew that although the Germans were still a potent fighting force they were still going to go down to defeat because their military situation was beyond changing to victory. Dear friends, pray, vote but rest in the goodness and sovereignty of God because He is good and He does have the whole world in His hands. God’s victory, in our lives as believers and in history is assured.