By now enough of the votes are counted to conclusively say that Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States.I'm not really sure what to think - I was hoping for a McCain win, but I wasn't really a big fan of either candidate.
But what I do know is that God is sovereign, and that he is the one who places and disposes of rulers as He pleases. Romans 13:1 says, "There is no authority except from God, and those that exist are established by God."
I also know that God is not a Republican - which many Christians often forget.
When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joshua in Joshua 5:13-15, Joshua asked him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries", and the Angel of the Lord replied, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the Lord." It wasn't a yes-or-no-question, but the Angel of the Lord was telling Joshua - "God is not on your side, nor the side of your enemies - but you can choose to be on God's side."
The Westminster Confession of Faith says this:
"God the great Creator of all things does uphold, direct, dispose, and govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the greatest even to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the free and immutable counsel of His own will, to the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, goodness, and mercy."
Somehow, God is going to use this for His Glory and the fulfillment of His plans.
And no matter who the earthly political leaders are, I'm glad that I have citizenship in heaven and I'm longing for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
For kingship belongs to the Lord, and he rules over the nations. Psalm 22:28
What are your thoughts/hopes/fears regarding an Obama presidency?
I think the only thing I worry about is the attitude that now things will be great again. Sorry, but it's not a Republican or a Democrat, not the president, house, or senate that has made America what it is, it was God.
ReplyDeleteAmen brother!
ReplyDeleteNick - you have provided a sound, biblical perspective on this issue that I much appreciate. I've already received one email this morning indicating that "evangelicals have failed" because Obama was elected. I would suggest that evangelicals have failed not because Obama was elected but because they try to inject true moral/ethical reform into the political process rather than being, uh, evangelical. The only true reform occurs when the Holy Spirit illuminates a person's heart and they are saved. Your post is spot on!
ReplyDeleteIT!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. The greatest need of any country is that individuals would be re-born.
The history of Israel just goes to prove that righteous laws don't make righteous people.
Here in Hungary, we have a socialist govt and very liberal laws - but yet God is still on the throne and changing lives one at a time.
Like I said, I would have preferred a McCain presidency, but by no means do I think this is the end of the world, or that God let one slip here.
Great perspective, Nick. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThoughts? Much of the above. God truely is in control and our whole being as Christians is not our vote; our failure is not the election.
Hopes? Being over here I am so tired of that word by now! One can see why he has been jokingly referred to as a god. People make him out to be. But honestly, my hopes are that the issues that I see as good about the Democratic party will be addressed and those (such as abortion) will not gain ground during this term.
And I hope I don't become too much of a skeptic at such a young age :)
Fears? Well, as with any switch of government...or any time one sets their security in government, the fears could be endless. I will choose to trust God's will in all things and simply ask for the grace to show nothing but respect for the man He has chosen to lead the nation in which I live.
Hey there!
ReplyDeleteI share your hopes - I think there are some good things that the Democratic party stands for (I say that ducking, as my Republican friends turn their guns towards me!), and I hope those areas will improve - and I also hope that liberal morals will not be legislated during this time.
But I certainly don't have the sense of doom that I have been seeing in the reactions of many others.
all i know is that his speach yesterday was pretty remarkably perfect...talk he can for sure...
ReplyDeleteoh, and the other thing is, that he is entering a HUGE mess...so may God be with ANYONE who needs to deal with that.
ReplyDeleteLuc - you are right about his skilz as a speaker, he's awesome at that.
ReplyDeleteI must say that after 8 yrs of Bush in office, it will be nice to have someone who is able to give a proper speech. Hopefully that will help our image worldwide.
And yea, it is a big mess. Honestly, this is the main reason I preferred McCain, but I pray that God will do a miracle and use this new administration to fix this situation.
"I also know that God is not a Republican "
ReplyDelete"God is not on your side, nor the side of your enemies - but you can choose to be on God's side."
2 favorite quotes from this blog entry. :)
I am THRILLED by our new president! As a former church sister posted, we must remember that he is NOT our Savior, Jesus is Lord, but I am confident President Obama will never lose sight of that. What IS going to be great, and surprising to many who haven't looked closely, is that Obama is breaking some very tired stereotypes which have bound our nation for too long. He first came to national attention as the man who said "We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents going through our library records in the red states." Look at the map, a lot of stereotypes have been broken. Those Christians who think they somehow failed have failed at an unwise, perhaps even sinful, attempt to hook the Gospel to a political party. There is a self styled "Party of God" -- is is based in Lebanon, where the name in Arabic is Hezb-i-al-Lah (Hezbollah). We don't need that in America.
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree with your post. It would be hard to put it in words better. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSiarlys - Thanks for the comment. Interesting viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteObama has a lot of expectations to live up to. I sincerely hope that he will be able to help bring about positive change in America.
I agree that it is a mistake to try to attach God to some political party. I'm quite sure that there are things both parties stand for which are not God's ways - I read an interesting article from a Christian writer recently who said that he thinks the Republican party patronizes Christians and trying to buy their votes by throwing therm a bone on certain moral issues, when in reality, the party as a whole doesn't care at all about the cause of Christ, they just want votes from the large Evangelical block. I'm sure this isn't true of all Republicans, but I'm sure it is of some.
So, just as I said before - God isn't on one side or the other, but we can choose to be on His side.
A friend of mine wrote a great post about this topic too: http://highchairtheology.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-voted-now-what.html
Thanks Andi!
ReplyDelete