Kingdoms and Powers

You don’t need me to tell you what hinges on this day in American history, because chances are that you know and have a bent one way or another already.  And the last thing most of you probably want is my opinion on the candidates.  So, I’m not going to give it.  If you’re here, I’m going to credit you as a thinking adult with convictions that will sway you one way or another.  Maybe I agree with you, maybe I don’t.

At the end of today we’ll either have the same president that we’ve had for the last 4 years, or we’ll have a new one.  And to be honest…neither of them is the solution to all of our problems.  That’s an awful lot of pressure to put on one fully human person.  Do I think one person would do a better job in certain areas than the other….sure.  Do I worry about what happens if my guy doesn’t win?  Sure.  But here’s what I really want to say to anyone reading about what I really believe has to happen at the end of the day….whether the winner is wearing a red tie or a blue one…

You have to accept it, like it or not.

And I want to go a step further and say…don’t just accept it.  Don’t just suck it up and deal with it for the next 4 years.  No matter if it’s your guy or “their” guy who wins, we each have a responsibility to honor our president and to pray for our country.

Maybe you’re here and you’re not a praying person…and I have no idea where that leaves you in this election at the end of the day…probably feeling pretty itchy and uncomfortable if it’s not your man in the oval office come January.  But I believe that this wonderful home that we call America isn’t actually the solution to the world’s problems.  Our home affords us more chances and opportunities than most any other country in the world, and for that I am ever thankful….but this country isn’t what is going to save the rest of the world.  That saving has been done over 2000 years ago by one man who was fully human, but also fully God, and no matter who controls the White House at the end of today doesn’t change that ultimate salvation either way.

I’m an American citizen, but before that, I’m a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven….and my citizenship in that Kingdom asks me to honor our leaders, pray for the place that I live, and to be a part of the peace and shalom that Jesus brings here on the earth.  So I want to say to you all…and to challenge you…that nomatter how you feel at the end of today about the next four years of our country’s future…commit to pray blessing over our nation.  Commit to pray blessing over our president and favor with the other countries of the world.  Pray for life and liberty and justice to prevail in the decisions that are made throughout this next president’s term.  If you feel grumpy about it…pray the opposite of how you feel.  Cut off the attempts of the enemy to divide our nation…and at the end of the day, prayerfully fall in line under the banner of the red, white, and blue that associates us all in this country.  But first, stand under the banner of a sovereign God who bled and died and wants good for his children…and trust that his Kingdom is at work, and our citizenship in that Kingdom allows us to bring all of the blessings and benefits of it into this place where we live.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37–39

Image via CNN.com