'When they said, “Give us a king to judge us,” Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord . But the Lord told him, “Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. '
1 Samuel 8:6-8
'Twas the day of the election and politicians were stirring.
Some of them in blue.
Some of them in red.
They can only agree on one thing.
If the other side wins, we'll all be dead.
I have thought long and hard about whether I would write this post. I understand that I don't have a platform to make an impact on how any of you. I also do everything I can to stay out of speaking about politics. As a pastor, I have seen many churches far more concerned about what party is in control of the White House and Capitol Hill, than they are about who is on the throne in Heaven.
However, I do know that God has put a burden on my heart to remind people that we were not created to be ruled by a human government. We were not created to be governed but broken and fallible leaders. We were created to recognize God as the one who created the heavens and the earth and he alone should be worshipped as King.
In 1 Samuel, we see the people of Israel looking around them at people that seemed to be in a much better position than they were. They had more prosperity. The had more power. They even had more prestige. And, they all shared one thing in common that the Israelites didn't have... a king.
Rather than realizing that God doesn't operate the way the world operates, they instead felt that they were missing out on something. The chose to reject their king and ask for a person to provide them with earthly governance. For the rest of history, Israel would constantly have to wade between honoring their broken and fallible king and what the Almighty God wants.
Doesn't this sound exactly like the mess we are still in today?
Almost everyday I read or hear something that implies that this is the most important election in the history of our country. Almost as though, many people are implying that a country that is two hundred and forty-five years old could be on the verge of completely failing. Almost as though, those people, many of whom claim to be "Christians", believe that something could happen in this election that would be outside of the working of God.
No wonder those who don't believe in God have such a hard time believing that He is real. Situations like elections point out that people fill pews on Sundays and worship policitians Monday through Saturday. If you think I am wrong, ask yourself if you will be upset if your candidate loses?
Now I do want to clarify that I do believe that we all have a civic duty to vote. I believe that God did in fact sovereignly form our country. No matter how much people want to try to write it out of history, our founding fathers fought to create a nation that was "One Nation Under God." Within that country, every person would have the right to have a say in who was governing it. However, God was always supposed to be the one the election leaders were serving under.
I believe that we should all carefully consider the candidates and vote for the ones that best bear witness to the God we serve. But, at the same time, understanding they are merely broken and fallible people and are never meant to replace the kingship that is reserved for God alone. No matter who becomes our next president, they hold very little power in light of the strength of our Almighty God.
Someone will win this election and someone will lose. Be gracious in victory and humble in defeat. Always remembering that we are all made in the image of God and one day our relationship with Him will be the only thing that matters. Heaven will be filled with both Republicans and Democrats and even some Independents too.
Cast your vote. Do your duty. But, as you do, thank God that He has, is and always will be the King.
God bless.
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