Who Do We Trust These Days?
 
On November 3rd we woke up with the uncertainty of who would win the presidential election.  Right now, about 77 million people are happy, and 72 million people are sad or mad.  Some conservative evangelical church leaders had been saying that “God told them” that the president would be re-elected.  Some “prophesied” that President Trump would remain in power.  Some said that God woke them up in the middle of the night and gave them “a word” assuring them that the president would stay in power.  Many believed that he was God’s anointed one.  What do we say now? The only recourse for many seems to be to promote the idea of a fraudulent election. 

Millions of Christians put all their hope in President Trump’s re-election!  Now what?  Is God up in heaven wringing his hands over what is happening?  Is He worried? 

I don’t think so!

Did God not get the memo that He is supposed to keep Trump in power?

Who are we to dictate to Him what to do?  I think we know the answer to that.

If our hope is in any presidential candidate, it is misplaced hope.  If that is our only hope, we are to be pitied.

Our hope is not in any earthly kingdom.  Our hope is in Christ, whose eternal kingdom is coming.  Our hope is anchored in the Kingdom of Heaven.  In Romans 14:17, the Apostle Paul states that the kingdom of God is a matter of “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

Let’s be honest.  That description looks a lot different than today’s reality.

Jesus taught that while the fullness of the Kingdom of God is yet to come, “the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21) The Church around the world is the Body of Christ, and as such is the embodiment of the Kingdom of God.

Our hope is in Christ.  Our confidence is in God.  Our response to the nation’s turmoil should reflect the Spirit of Christ in us.  That Spirit is characterized by the qualities of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

It seems to me that those “fruit of the Spirit” are in short supply these days.

God have mercy on us all! 

May He call his people back to reflecting the likeness of Christ.  May we all imitate God as his children, and “live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)
 
Former Pastor Paul Erny