Wednesday, November 9, 2016

ELECTION SUNDAY / PRAYER & REFLECTION

As a pastor, I have the unique responsibility to help people process. Life. Family. Faith. All these can be quite the balancing act.  Truth is, the political climate we found ourselves in was unusually stressful for many and confusing to most. Here was my address to the body at Freedom Life Church on the Sunday prior to the election. 

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We are really ready for this presidential election to be over. Many are ready for an end to the rancor and tackiness. Voters on both sides feel frustrated, even embarrassed by it all. There is a visceral fear, an angst about the result. What if so and so wins?

When we wake up to November 9, post-election, when the confetti is swept away and the election is finally over, what will we see?

I have a prediction. I know exactly what November 9 will bring. Another day of God’s perfect sovereignty. He will still be in charge. His throne will still be occupied. He will still manage the affairs of the world. Never before has His providence depended on a king, president, or ruler. And it won’t on November 9, 2016.

The LORD can control a king’s mind as He controls a river; He can direct it as He pleases. — Proverbs 21:1 NCV

Understanding God’s sovereignty over the nations opens the door to peace. When we realize that God influences the hearts of all rulers, we can then choose to pray for them rather than fret about them.

Rather than wring our hands we bend our knees, we select prayer over despair.
           
Jeremiah did this. He was the prophet to Israel during one of her darkest periods of rebellion. He was called “the weeping prophet” because he was one. He wept at the condition of the people and the depravity of their faith. He was so distraught that one of his books was entitled Lamentations. But then he considered the work of God. Note the intentionality of his words:

This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

The LORD’s loving kindnesses indeed never cease,

For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness. — Lamentations 3:21-23

Imitate Jeremiah. Lift up your eyes. Dare to believe that good things will happen. Dare to believe that God was speaking to us when He said:

In everything God works for the good of those who love Him. — Romans 8:28

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