Trusting God During The Election
/Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed by Senate yesterday with 52 votes.
Whether you are celebrating this as a win or consider it a tremendous loss, I continually find my peace in the knowledge that God establishes kings and kingdoms; He lifts up and brings low those in power; He purposes victory and defeat alike; and He can be trusted. He is not a hands-off God, nor is He cruel, but kind and actively engaged in the lives of His beloved creation.
Nothing and no one will ever threaten God’s sovereign rule, His absolute power, or eternal purposes. Though we may not understand His reasoning we cannot deny His reign.
His vantage point in the narrative of America is vast and loving. No judge can usurp God’s ultimate plan for our nation or the world.
What a relief.
Even Christ, standing before a judge Himself, testified that no one in authority held the power to take His life — He was submitting to God’s sovereign will.
“So Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above...””
(John 19:10-11, ESV)
Again, whether you find yourself celebrating or grieving today, hopeful or hopeless as you enter this final week before the presidential elections, actively choose to trust our Heavenly Sovereign if things go “your way” or not. For His ways will surely prevail in the end.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.(Isaiah 55:8-9, NIV)
Throughout the Bible we see the Lord establish good kings to do His will (with a scepter of grace) and evil kings to carry out His will (as with a winnowing fork.) But over all, there remains One true King and One eternal Judge presiding over humanity from ages past to forevermore.
What peace that affords us today. What tremendous peace.
You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (Isaiah 26:3, NLT)
When our trust is in Him, His peace is in us. When our trust is in Him, His peace is in us. Conversely, it may be said that when we lack peace… we lack trust. Our lack of peace testifies to a lack of trust that God is on His throne. Ruling as Judge and King, who sees the end from the beginning and who’s vantage point is love and the redemption of the world. He can be trusted, friends. Whether we understand His ways or not. Whether we agree with election results or not. God can be trusted. And when we come to trust Him fully, His peace is fully ours for the taking.
One of my most oft’ repeated prayers is simply, “I trust You, Lord.” I actively choose to trust God with what I cannot fathom, what I do not agree with, and everything that threatens my intellectual or emotional peace. With my children’s learning or behavioral struggles and ongoing marital stress, amidst financial uncertainty and health challenges, even in the face of political strive so intense that family members are not speaking to one another, we can actively choose to trust the One who is trustworthy. And we must.
A few years ago Pastor Dennis Keating taught a series at our local church on the book of Esther. Throughout his lessons he repeated a simple phrase that has stayed with me over the years: “God is the hand within the glove of human history.”
From ages past and forward. He is Kind and He is King and can be trusted.
Put your trust in Him and He will put His peace in you.
