URGENT: Pray!

Another presidential election has come and gone. If Spirit of Joy’s election patterns mirror those of Union County, 35% of you are happy today, and 65% are probably somewhat discouraged. But both sides have something powerful to celebrate!

Before I share with you my reflections, I want to start with some pieces of wisdom forwarded to me this morning. Apparently they come from a sermon preached last weekend by Pastor Mike Ross. He inspires these perspectives …

1.   Don’t allow this election to rob you of your peace in Christ. The President and his administration cannot fix things. Only God can do that.

2.    Don’t be too hard on the men and women in government. They face an overwhelming task of managing the affairs of fallen humanity, keeping evil at bay, and ruling in spite of their own blind-spots and sins.

3.    Remember, this election will not “take America back for God.” If God wants America for his own, he’ll take it back by means of the Holy Spirit and a great moral reformation and spiritual revival.

4.    Even if and when God “takes America back” it will only be for a time. No earthly country is now or ever will be the Kingdom of God!

That’s a good start. Now …

Here’s my reflections … my reasons to celebrate …

If you are among the thirty-five-satisfied-percent …

Congratulations.

I trust you were emboldened by your Christian conviction of compassion. Since I know good people of faith on both sides of the aisle, I know that the convictions of both sides are motivated by compassion (though via very different methodologies). Nevertheless, the Democrats always seem to do a better job of talking about compassion.

So if this – and other convictions – inspired you, congratulations! Today, therefore, you have national and corporate reasons to celebrate! We all pray that your leadership produces a harvest blessing for our world!

The other 65% of you …

… have, I believe, very different reasons to celebrate … personal reasons to celebrate.

Yes, you are probably discouraged nationally. Your values and political convictions were not upheld. Nevertheless, I pray this election reminds us of a more important Biblical principal …

The human condition is to think that human efforts produce godly results. No! Human efforts produce human results – some better, some worse, but at best, only human.  

Too many (even among good Christians) look to humans (say, a President) to fix what ails our world. In 1 Samuel 8, for example, the people of Israel demanded a king.

God said, “Very well, but here’s the results you will get …

1.    If you choose (and pin your hopes on) a human king, you are rejecting me as your king.

2.    This king will heap unbearable burdens upon you, taxing you at the ungodly rate of ten percent (indeed, the king’s government will ask for first ten percent that really belongs to God).

3.    “18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

To the discouraged 65%, here’s your reason for celebration: The Day After is our ever-necessary reminder to quit depending on human leaders and human solutions … and even on ourselves. Trust God. Turn off the media. Turn to God in prayer. Open the Bible rather than the newspaper. Humble yourselves personally. And if you want to change the world, change your own heart!

In fact, here’s the celebratory irony: If your candidate would have won, you might have tried – for four more years – to wait for human results. Count your lack of control as a blessing! Turn to God completely today!

That was Isaiah’s point many generations ago. Anticipating a time of battle and adversity, Isaiah reminded God’s people to quit trusting worldly results, saying, “31:1 Alas for those … who rely on horses [and] trust in chariots because they are many and … are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the Lord!”

In other words, don’t let any president be your horse or any government be your chariot. Submit yourself. Let God be God. And whether you’re a 35-percenter or a 65-percenter remember that this is a greater victory than any arrived at by any electoral college.

To close … I want to say, pray.

Each time I sit down to pray through my prayer list, in addition to praying for you, I pray for our president. I have for years … whether any given leader is my favorite candidate or not. So pray! Daily! For our president. For our nation.

… and by the way … by praying, you’re beginning to accomplish the principals I was just talking about! It’s God – not you nor any human leader – who changes things. Therefore, spend your energies connecting more impassionedly with the true ruler of the universe, and discover that he wants to connect more impassionedly with you!

In Christ’s Love,

A guy who wants

to be a 100-percenter

… all in for God!!!