Election Day! Finally!

Well, here we are, Election Day. Finally. Today is the day that every Christian will wait with baited breathe to see if God has heard and answered our prayers. Today is the day that we will all be praying like never before for our candidate and for our country.

As Christians in America we are convinced that there is only one candidate to vote for, and that is You-Know-Who (YKW). Only YKW can save us from doom. YKW is God’s answer to our prayers. Only YKW can keep us from plummeting into the abyss of destruction that is certain if The-Other-One (TOO) gets elected.

The hiccup is that we are all assigning different identities to YKW and TOO. It is interesting that Christians can love the same God, have a heart of compassion for the poor and needy, desire to serve our fellow man, and disagree so passionately on who should lead us, and the policies we should enact, to accomplish our goals.

Fortunately, God knows the plans he has for us as individuals, and the plans he has for our country. Not only does God know his perfect plans, he knows who is the best tool with which to accomplish those plans.

The truth is that whoever sits in that seat of authority, they are there because God has allowed it. Yes, he uses our votes, our anger, our desperation, and our yard signs to accomplish his plan. He even uses our complacency. However, we must remember that God will place whomever he wants in the White House for his purposes.

God already knows who will sit in the President’s chair, and that person is his person. God is not waiting for the election results to know which playbook to open. God is eternal and omniscient, he already knows what the future holds and how our choices will be used for his good purposes.

Could he be on the verge of making us “stronger together” or is he about to make us “great again”? Both? Neither? Perhaps God’s plan is the polar opposite of what either candidate proposes.

Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, … The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath.” – Psalm 2:1-2, 4 NIV

The polls tell us that about half of us support YKW, and the other half supports TOO. Fortunately, all Christians support God and his plan, so we will accept whoever is elected today and await the unfolding of God’s plan tomorrow. It may or may not be what we would consider good, but we know God. We know his character. We know he is good, and we know that everything he does is good.

It is good when we are humbled. It is good when we are brought to our knees in repentance. It is good when we are stripped of all the things we depend on that keep us from depending on God. It is good when things get so bad that the only thing we can do is cry out to God to save us.

Uh oh… those things don’t sound so good to us. That sounds like what might happen if YKW loses and TOO wins!

Perhaps it might help us better understand that this isn’t so much about who our next president will be as it is what God is doing, if we re-read this and switched up our ideas of who YKW and TOO are.

What might God be doing? What is he saying to us through the election of YKW? or of TOO? How does our country, our politics, and our faith look from God’s perspective? Perhaps we should also ask, what are we saying to God by our choices?

We can rest this evening as we watch the election returns because we know God is fully in control and whether YKW or TOO is elected, God will not be caught off guard. God will accomplish his good plan. God’s person will be elected. And come what may, God is at work on behalf of his people.

Will you graciously accept the choice that God allows, YKW or TOO, as God’s person to accomplish God’s plan. Will you seek God’s guidance to understand your role in his plan? Will you submit to God’s plan?

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good.”   – Romans 13:1, 4 NIV

God may be bringing us into a period of rest, peace and ease. He may be bringing us into a time of unrest, war and struggle. He will use whatever is best to discipline us and humble us before him.

Will you pray for every governing official elected today? Will you pray that they will seek God’s will, and make no decisions that they have not first laid before God. Will you pray for unity among Christians, and that we can put aside our political differences and seek God’s greater glory?