Politics

Political discussion is rampant nowadays. "So-and-so is the Republican nominee; so-and-so has so many delegates; we have to get Obama out of office", etc. And biggest thing I have been realizing through all of this, is that most Christians are not giving the final results to God. Everywhere I hear, “Obama can’t win! We have to do anything in our power to stop him!” Unfortunately, for most Christians, that means falling in behind whomever is the “nominee” (giving up principle, i.e. "I don’t really like him but he’s not as bad as Obama..."). They are voting because it is the “right thing to do” and we have to do this or else the country is going to fall apart!

Seriously?

But, I’m getting off track with where I wanted this to go...

As I was reading the Bible last week, two passages stood out to me very vividly, and I wanted to share them with you.

Psalm 146:3-10

Do not put your trust in princes, nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help. His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.

Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps truth forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever— Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord!

and Jeremiah 17:5-8

“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited.

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.”

So... why are we trusting in man, again? One man is not going to solve our problems. With the way the elections are currently going, we have two candidates: Republican Mitt Romney & current President Democrat Barack Hussein Obama (of course, I still can’t figure out how he was elected in the first place. He’s not even legal...).

If Romney is elected, we might have four years of “calm”, which actually does not sound very pleasant, shocking as that may sound. In times of peace, people do not turn to the Lord, because they’re secure, it is only when they are in turmoil do they cry out to Him, unfortunately.

Option #2, Obama is re-elected. The debt rises more, the dollar collapses, and WWIII starts. Doesn’t that just sound fun?! Hmm, somehow I think you are feeling rather sceptical right now, huh?

Anyway, we’re left with those two choices. 4 years of “maybe” calm before the storm (the dollar collapsing, etc) or we can jump straight in it!

Though actually, it is not even our choice; it is God’s. Romans 13:1b, “For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”

So no matter what happens, it is all God’s choice... and people need to calm down. God is not going to let the wrong guy get elected! Isaiah 55:8-9 says, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Also Romans 11:33 - Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!)

So, if Obama is re-elected, it is God’s choice! (Provers 21:1 - The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.) He is not in Heaven thinking, “Oh, no! Why on earth did they allow him to be elected (again)?! This can’t be happening! It just ruined my plan for the earth!” It just doesn’t work like that. God knows everything about everyone (Hebrews 4:13 - And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.) and He has a perfect plan! (Jeremiah 29: 11 - For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.)

Personally, I think Obama is going to get re-elected. In fact, I hope he gets elected again! Now, before you stone me for my political heresy, let me explain.

Our nation is far, far from God, and it needs a wake-up call. And you all can probably remember the way God gave the Israelites a wake-up call when they turned from Him; He allowed them to be turned into slaves and ruled by their enemies. Only then did they turn to Him and repent. It was a very drastic call, and they needed something drastic. It was not as if they did not have any warning, either. God kept sending them prophets (Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.), and they still did not turn from their ways! They kept serving ba’al and committing abominations in God’s sight. Slavery was the only way He could reach them. Why didn’t they listen to the prophets? Because they had too much material possessions. God had blessed them exceedingly, and in return, Israel had forgotten their God. Sorta sounds like America, doesn’t it?

We have been physically blessed more than any other nation. Our country was founded by godly men who knew the Scriptures and wanted to have freedom to worship Christ. But, we have forgotten Christ. Public schools teach that we came from monkeys (and sludge, if you go back several billion years...), violence and immorality are commonly viewed on TV, and God’s holy name is regularly blasphemed. We are doing the exact same thing that the Israelites did, yet, for some reason, we seem to be expecting different results!

“God’s not going to punish us! I mean, we may kill 3,700 babies each day [one every 20 seconds - we have lost more Americans through abortions (40 times more) than we did in all of our wars (12 wars) combined], live extremely immoral lives as a nation, and watch R rated movies. But we’re not that bad! I mean, hey! This is the 21st century! What could He do to us?” Well, considering it is the 21st century, He could do a lot of things. I’ll let your imagination take over briefly. There are a lot of ways He could punish us... Obama being just part of it...

Provers 3:11-12 (Hebrews 12:5-6 also says the same thing)
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; for whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.

God will chastise America, and I think He is going to use this election to do it. Only when the Israelites had nowhere to turn to in their exilement, did they turn to the Lord. And once they had repented (as a nation!) did God free them from their captors.

Which I think is quite an exciting thought! Can you imagine it; a whole nation turning back to their Savior?! The thought gives me goose-bumps! And God may do it in our lifetime! It is not a scary thought, either. We could be part of one of the greatest spiritual revivals!

I’ll end with this thought, that if Obama is re-elected, not only could the economy collapse, but it would be the perfect time for the Great Tribulation to start. Massive killings of Christians (most likely by Muslims - the Bible says that they will think that they are doing “god” a favor when they kill us. And that is what the Muslims believe), and no longer will people be able to sit on the fence about their beliefs. They will either be completely for Christ (literally unto death) or they will take the mark of the beast.

Whenever I used to hear about this time, it was actually rather scary to think about. especially the massive killings of Christians (I don’t want to die!). But, you know, our life on the earth is but a vapor that’s here today and gone tomorrow (James 4:14-15). Considering that not one sparrow can fall to the ground without God knowing it (Matthew 10:28-31), He knows exactly when I am going to die, and under what circumstances! There is no way for you or me to die without it being God’s plan!

Now, that may not give you peace, but it gives me a lot of peace knowing that God has ordained my death, at the perfect time. Until that time, the only thing I should be thinking about/doing is serving Him wholly and completely. And leave the rest up to God.