My thoughts on the election

Today is a day that hurts.

It hurts to see my fellow citizens choose another path for our country. It hurts to see what I’ve perceived to be bad leadership rewarded and encouraged. It hurts to see policies that directly affect negatively the family become ensconced in the mechanical rituals of our national health care. It hurts to look at the gloom I’ve seen on the faces of many over these last few years, knowing that some of these circumstances that are the source of their sadness were avoidable - shaped by the national trends emerging out of decision-making power centers that seem out of touch with either the impact of their choices or the answers to resolve them. It just hurts.

We seem to want to walk down a pathway that is only going to invite more misery and hardship upon people, and yet all I can do is watch. Like being shackled to the prodigal son on his journey towards the land of wild and lavish living, I can do nothing but be dragged along to the place where I know this will end — eating leftover food products tossed to the pigs. I see the end, but all I can do is brace myself and wait.

This is the feeling I get when I watch the Ravens lose to the Steelers. The major difference being that is just a football game. In this case, I didn’t lose a game — I lost a country. And the ache is about 1000x sharper.

It’s understandable that most people have a desire to build an equitable society. That’s a noble quest. The difficulties arrive when different people have different pathways to making that happen. And choices have consequences. So to choose one path means we may not walk down another. I fear that in our haste to journey down one road, we may lose the wisdom and benefits we gloss over as outdated, passé, or irrelevant as we sail away from the paths not taken.

Most of us have an aversion to pain and suffering. We run from it, avoid it, minimize it. But we may be coming to a place in our country where those options are no longer viable. I believe the discomfort and unease we feel will continue unabated for the foreseeable future. We may even see increases in it as our nation strains at the sinews that are only barely keeping us connected together now.

We may continue to ache, like it says in Romans, being the creation that longs to be clothed with something other than the robes of ignorance, self-interest, reckless living, being enslaved to our passions.

So here comes the million dollar question: What can I take from this moment?

There are four consolations I draw out of this most painful moment. In no particular order…

First, the Kingdom of God is still real. The beauty of God’s timeless word is that his truth still is true, regardless of circumstance. So the Kingdom, a place where there will be no more crying, war, or pain, is still an ever-present expectation. I live each day in the light of this coming reality. And every day, we are one day closer to God’s kingdom coming – even on a day like today.

Second: If my country’s potential collapse is the precursor to the End coming, then I need to accept our part in the unfolding of history. This one is hard. I love my country dearly. But if my own country’s deterioration is one of the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is a first step to the culminating of history, then I need to accept that. My prayer becomes more like the prayer of Gethsemane – may this cup of suffering pass from our lips; but Your will be done, not mine. Give me the strength to trust you; may my faith in you not fail as we walk this rocky road. Help me to be compassionate on many who will be even more so affected negatively by our direction. Help me not lose hope myself.

Third: Jesus is still real. This is the best truth. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). I need not fear that He is unaware of these choices we are making. He is sovereign and capable to help us navigate the minefield we’ve chosen to tip-toe through. Even if we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he is still closer than a brother, and will bring all his power to bear upon the situations we face. My hope is in him, even if my worst fears are realized—and that hope will not fail.

Fourth: His promises to me are still real. I still have hope. He will sustain me, provide for me, keep me focused on the things that matter most, as I hear often from a few others around me.

I feel mostly for those who don’t have Him to hope upon. Whether it be those despairing over the results of the election; or even worse, those who have put their hope in someone other than Jesus. Because ultimately, he will fail. Only Jesus never fails.

The day for those folks has not yet come where they may need Him like I do today.

May their eyes be clear and their hearts be open when that day comes.