“Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help”  Psalm 146:3

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.  A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom”  Psalm 45:6

“…the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him….saying ‘You are worthy, O Lord to receive, glory and honor and power'”  Revelation 4:10,11

So I will start out saying I believe in the process of human government and in the process of that government called democracy.  I do believe in the power of people being free to elect their governmental officials and thus they should be informed and engaged to do so.  This is not a post designed to communicate some sense of withdrawal or rejection of that process.

By the same token, I believe that we who call upon Our Almighty Father, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, need to consider a certain perspective about the impact and gravity of the outcome of earthly elections, regardless who or what party we support.

To a certain extent all elections are a combination of promise and of fear.  The fear is what will happen if the other person is elected as opposed to the promise that comes from electing the person we support.  Yet, having been through decades of election cycles now, this particular election cycle has raised the fear mongering to a significantly higher level than I have experienced in the past.  Opponents within the same country are being categorized as enemies.  Opponents within the same party are being described as disasters to the country should they be nominated or elected.

The vitriolic nature of the discourse of candidates between each other does not concern who is better for a position.  Rather the discourse has sunk to a level of base personal attacks on everything from a candidate’s physical looks, to a candidate’s spiritual beliefs, to, in some cases, whether the candidate is a special type of evil.  Statements designed to stoke frustration, fear and even outright animosity between candidates’ followers are being tossed about without any real concern about the veracity of those statements.

Finally, it appears that the nature of the campaigning has had its desired effect for there is a climate of and discussion about fear that permeates every aspect of the process.  Both sides are well on their way to convincing their constituents that the destruction of the country, the ending of all that is decent and upstanding, our very way of life as we know it will end if the other person were to win the election.  If we are not careful.  Even we, who profess Christ as our King and Savior, can get caught up in this frenzy of fear.

So I think it is time to take a pause, to take a deep breath, turn down or off the shreeking candidates, spokespersons and pundits of the world, and look to the true, eternal perspective.

First, are there good and bad, effective and ineffective, talented and incompetent leaders?  Certainly.  One only has to look at the books of 1 and 2 Kings as well as 1 and 2 Chronicles to find stories of wonderfully blessed, talented and wise leaders as well as evil, ignorant and inept leaders.  In those stories we see how the people of Israel prospered under the wise leaders and yes suffered under the foolish leaders.  Yet understand this, even under the worse leader, God did not allow the people of Israel to be destroyed.  God and His plan never stopped moving to His inexorable conclusion.

Additionally, we must be careful not to inflate the power of any person or their believers into something rivaling the power of Almighty God.  We have to avoid the temptation and the sin of falling into the trap of fearing the rise of someone we vehemently don’t like so much that we delude ourselves into feeling hope is abandoned should that person be elected.

We should understand and take comfort from the fact that God Almighty is on His throne and no power or combination of powers, earthly or otherwise will remove Him from His throne.  We should also understand that God is not a God who abandons us to our own devices.  If that were the case, Jesus Christ would have stayed in heaven and never come down to earth.  We should remember that all realms, including the political are realms that God had control over.  There are times that He has brought leaders up to show His power by bringing blessings as well as there have been times when He has brought up onerous, evil leaders to show His power by defeating them.

Bottom line, Dear Sisters and Brothers, let us not find ourselves in fear or trembling of any earthly leader or party.  Converslely, let us not put too much stock and faith in the goodness of any particular leader or party.  God is quite clear that we should not put our faith in earthly “princes”.  For we are all fallen and all good things, including leaders can only come from God above.

So, be engaged in the electorial process? Sure.  Researching and then supporting a candidate is a fine thing, but don’t hate the other candidate or their supporters.  Hope for blessings to come from the success of your candidate?  Okay, but do not live in fear should your candidate not win the day.  Understand that elections do have consequences and winners wield a certain amount of power?  Alright, but be at peace whoever wins, knowing that the power they wield is miniscule  and temporary as compared to the Eternal Power wielded by Almighty God.

Finally, regardless of the outcome, remember the exhortation of Jesus Christ; blessed are the peacemakers.  We all want to be called sons of God.  While elections may be about disparate candidates with different visions and plans, in the end, once the campaigns are over and the dust settles, for any progress to be made, we need to be able to come together.  Please be at peace this election season and do not let fear rule your heart.  Our Heavenly Father is on His throne and that is the only seat of power which truly matters.

Our Most Gracious Heavenly Father, we loudly proclaim with shouts of praise and glory that You are the One King of Kings and that You sit triumphantly on Your Throne.  Furthermore, we declare that You have power over all things.  Forgive us Most Merciful Father when we become so engaged in earthly processes that we forget about or trivialize Your Power.  Help us to focus on You first this election season allowing us to keep a civility and peace concerning this earthly process.  Remind us that no matter what the outcome, You are in charge and we should know that You will allow no earthly process, party or leader, to separate us from You.  Allow us to be the peacemakers who will bring honor, glory and praise to Your Most Holy Name.  We pray in the Name of Jesus Christ.  Amen