Post Election Thoughts

As I watched the election results come in Tuesday night I would describe my response as shocked, stunned, saddened. So many of us had been praying for a different result and I know some of you were mad at God. I did not find myself mad at God and I believe that is because even though I was cautiously optimistic I found myself wondering if all the prayers (mine and those of others) were more about achieving what was comfortable, what would make us happy and not what would make us HOLY. I truly believe that many were sincerely praying for revival, for a turn that would bring about a spiritual awakening as I have been, but God's ways are not always mine. So I was not mad at God (and I don't say that to make you think that I couldn't be, or that I was somehow "super spiritual" in all of this, but it was simply not an emotion I had). I have been struggling with anxiety (lack of trust) since the election and I'm repenting of that failure to rest completely in the hands of God. So what I witnessed on Tuesday was what I would describe as the "Secularist" triumph. As I wept in my office on Wednesday morning my tears were sourced in a deep sadness over the direction I see our country heading, over the abandonment of God, over the elevation of self-indulgence, over the celebration of decadence, arrogance, deception, and corruption on a scale that heretofore seemed impossible. We have just gone through one of the most difficult economic, political, international, and social upheavals in our history lead by a President whose policies have failed and whose promises have been broken. Yet 60 million people said, "Sign me up for four more years of this nonsense." I witnessed what I fear to be a defining moment in our country's history which will lead to a country more divided than since the civil war. America is comprised of people standing firmly in two diametrically opposed camps separated by a huge ideological and moral chasm. On the one side we have the "government as provider" secularists for whom larger government, more regulation, higher taxes, less personal responsibility, entitlement expansion, loose interpretation of the constitution, and moral relativism are essential. On the other side are the "government as protector" folks for whom smaller government, minimal regulation, lower taxes, increased personal responsibility, entitlement reduction, strict adherence to the constitution, and moral absolutism (abortion is wrong, homosexuality is sin, people should work to provide for their needs) are foundational. Both sides have their secularists, neither side is perfect, I'm merely pointing out that one side has become openly and patently secularist (removing God and His influence). As a Christian I think it stunned me to see just how far away from caring about the things God cares about the majority of our citizens have gone. So many celebrated the opportunity to take the lives of the unborn, to promote perversion, to perpetuate dependency upon the government, to limit religious freedom. So on Wednesday morning when I asked the Lord for some perspective He directed me to Amos chapters 4-5. As God delineated all of the tragedy He had brought upon His people He then stated, "Yet you have not returned to Me" (4:6,8,9,10,11). God's punishment rested upon His people because of their sin and He basically tells them...."DUH, I'm just trying to get your attention so you will turn from your sin and return to Me." America is not Israel, but a principle is still in play. 1Chronicles 7:14 is also about Israel with a similar principle. God punishes sin to turn people towards Him. As I see the degradation in America increase and the painful consequences of difficult times increase I think it is time for us to "Return to the Lord." We like to sing and say, "God Bless America" but God never blesses sin. I believe what we have been saying for many years is that we want God's blessing without our believing in Him or behaving like we believe. What we believe about God is reflected in our behavior and what happened on Tuesday indicates what most people in America believe about God based upon their convictions and conduct. Remember this is the party that took God out of their platform and adopted the sins of Romans 1 as their party platform. I believe Amos' words to God's people are what we need to hear and heed in America. After I spent time in Amos I went to Hebrews 11--that great chapter on faith. How fitting that I should be reminded of all the faithful men and women of God who "all died without receiving the promises, but having seen them welcomed them from a distance. All that God had spoken about that would be realized fully in the person and work of Christ, these faithful people looked ahead in faith to. They lived in hope on promises they never saw realized. I look back in faith on Christ like they looked ahead in regard to salvation. But all believers look ahead in faith for the fulfillment of the promises about fully experiencing our eternal inheritance and the blessings of heaven. A good reminder to be encouraged by their faithfulness so that I too will "fix my eyes on Jesus" (Heb.12:2) while I struggle here on earth. So I'm challenged to "Return to the Lord" and to encourage that returning throughout America. I'm hopeful that as God delivered Ninevah (see Jonah 3) He may be pleased to spare America. I'm also challenged to "Rely upon the Lord" who really is in charge and who will fulfill His promises. So I look at the election as an indication of America's spiritual problem. It's quite simple, "People need the Lord." Those submitted to the lordship of Christ will not pursue the sins of Romans 1 as their political agenda. That's why even though I'm shocked, stunned, and deeply saddened, I will NOT be silent. Of first priority for myself and the church of Jesus Christ is to share the Gospel of Christ with a lost and dying world. I will pray and ask the Lord to give me a desire to share Christ with those who disagree with me rather than despise them. I will ask the Lord to make me a merciful person who disagrees with sin, but who seeks to love the sinner. Believers must realize that we must speak about sin so that people will see the need to repent. We don't speak as those who are better than others, but as those who are forgiven who desire others to know God's mercy as well. I will seek to be salt and light to the world I live in and encourage others to do the same. I will speak out on behalf of the defenseless, the unborn, and those enslaved to entitlements. I will hope in what God wants to do in and through His body the church as we remain faithful even in turmoil. Bottom line is that for believers our citizenship is in heaven (Phil.3:20) from which we anxiously await a Savior. I don't see this as an excuse for abandoning my involvement in what is happening in the world, but it is a true source of comfort in the midst of chaos. "O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him" (Ps.34:8).