Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus– Philippians 4:6-7 NIV

By the time this post is published our nation will be on the cusp of election eve. Most votes will have been cast and the undecided voters will have made a decision.  The election results will be all but a done deal. 

May the Lord show us mercy we haven’t earned.  

To my chagrin, the weightiness of this election season has had me feeling anxious and navel gaze-y (Matthew 6:25-34).  It is not an overstatement to say this is the most critically important election since Lincoln versus McClellan in 1864. Like that election, this election will determine the direction of our nation and what kind of people we will be (Matthew 6:43). Will we remain a stanchly capitalist country or will we dive headlong into socialism? Will we be a people who value life at every stage or will we continue down a trajectory of moral ambiguity and Moloch worship?  Will we be a people who value order and justice or will we devolve into further violence and chaos?  Will we bow to “science” or follow the God who created science? Will we seek racial harmony? Or will we continue to splinter off into tribalism and continue to embrace identity politics? 

 Only time will tell.   

Whatever happens on election day, some truths are eternal and will remain in play no matter who wins. No matter what happens on November 3^rd (or in the weeks that follow) these four things will still be true: 

God will still be on His throne- 

God will not be going anywhere November 4^th.  This will be true no matter who is elected president.  God will remain firmly in control and He will still love His people and He will continue to hold us in the palm of His hand (Psalm 45:6, Psalm 111:5).  Christians are meant to be a source of hope to others in all of life’s circumstance. If we lose sight of God’s sovereignty we will lose our ability to be propagators of hope and agents of reconciliation (2^nd Corinthians 5:18-19, Romans 5:5, Romans 15:4). 

God will still be good- 

Seriously.

God will still be good no matter what happens in this or any election (Psalm 73:28). No doubts allowed.  Even if our worst nightmares become stone cold reality in this situation our God will still be good (John 16:33). Even if every bad thing we fear could happen actually happens in the coming years God will still be good.  Truth-be-told, if our worst fears come to fruition we may uncover a whole new side of God’s goodness. It would not be the first time in history God revealed Himself in a deeper and more profound way through the pain of adversity or the challenges bad leadership inevitably bring (2^nd Chronicles 6:26-31, Isaiah 30:20). We cannot lose sight of the fact it is our responsibility to reflect God’s goodness no matter what the political landscape happens to look like. 

God’s will for His people will still be God’s will for His people- 

Let’s say the “right guy” wins big on November 3^rd. Big. Like sixty percent of the vote big. If by some miracle that occurs, I guarantee you it will not be because God is delighted with how things are going in our world. We cannot allow ourselves to be lulled into thinking otherwise. If the “right guy” wins it will not be because God wants to bless our socks off for another four years.  It will only be because God is merciful and He wants to give His people a window of opportunity to show His love to the world and do the work of evangelism (Luke 6:35, Matthew 28:19).   

Our biggest problems will still be our biggest problems- 

Elections determine direction. Elections don’t rid societies of deeply-rooted problems. Contrary to popular belief the biggest problems in our society are not racial injustice, poverty, sexism, weak preaching, progressive Christians or the liberal news media. All of those are just are symptoms of the real problems.  Our biggest problems are hard hearts, lack of faith, disobedience to God and a desire to do our own thing rather than God’s thing.  This will still be true no matter who becomes president. Sadly, church people have a history of resting on their spiritual laurels anytime one of “their guys” is elected president.  That will not work this time around. We cannot return to business as usual. Instead we must seek the Lord and ask Him to change us so we can be a force for healthy, life-giving change in our world.  Without the real and lasting change that only comes through genuine heart change that only revival can bring, our culture will continue to devolve into the madness that has become a defining feature of our society.   

Perhaps the thing that will be the most true no matter who is elected, is that our nation will still need healing.  We will need God’s grace and mercy to make us healthy, united and good again.