Dear friends,
People across the US are casting their ballots as I type. All of us are making choices based on our individual beliefs, values, principles, and convictions which we call a worldview.
There are Christ followers on both sides of the aisle praying as Patty did early this morning! Millions will be rejoicing, and millions dejected when the results are finally tallied. Some people will feel their prayers were answered and others that God has turned a deaf ear. What is God to do? Is He caught between a rock and a hard place? Is He having a panic attack? “Our God is in the heavens (unseen realm) and He does whatever He pleases.” Psalm 115:3
God’s people were in bondage in Egypt for over 400 years and if you lived in that time period and your daily prayer included, “LORD deliver us from slavery and from the Egyptians” the LORD’s answer each day would have been the same! God told Abraham years before that his offspring would be slaves for that long. So, should we not pray? No men, women, boys, and girls ought always to pray and not faint. But remember His sovereignty rules overall. That takes a lot of pressure out of life as well as disillusionment!
For the last 2 weeks we have examined, “The Profile of a Christ Follower” and this Sunday will be part 3! (Read Matthew 10:1-15) If I told you who I voted for would you relate to me differently? Those of you who know me already have a “Glen profile,” but would it change your relationship with me if I voted differently than you did? I hope not, nor my relationship with you.
I have a prayer at the end of this email that someone sent me this morning relating to our election. It is a somber reflection but a good reminder. Speaking of reminders, we going to be back in our sanctuary this Sunday for both our 9 am and 10:45 services. We can have 100 inside with social distancing. So please signup early, however we will also have an overflow room.
Because our God reigns,
Glen
O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.
We thank you for the privilege of voting that is ours–
an opportunity to influence the direction our country will take
by choosing those who will lead us.
Lord, we thank you for your law of love and justice and grace
Which our founding fathers acknowledged
and recognized as higher than any human law.
May we seek to be true to your law above all else.
We thank you for the opportunity this election puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty to vote thoughtfully and prayerfully.
We pray that we, your people, may be awakened to spiritual reality on this day.
Awaken in us the knowledge that we are not called to flee this world
But rather we are called to be a community of faith renewing the world.
Awaken in us an awareness that the same hands we lift to you in prayer
Are the hands that fill out our voting ballot;
That the same eyes that read your word
Are the eyes that read the names of the candidates,
And that we do not cease to be Christ-followers
When we enter the voting booth.
Awaken in us a renewed commitment to justice and equity,
that we may use our vote for the good of all God’s children
and the betterment of the whole human community—of which we are one small part.
Awaken in us a renewed commitment to care for each other,
to steward the earth and to share the many gifts you have bestowed upon us.
May the way we vote today and the attitudes we carry with us into the voting booth show us to be citizens of your kingdom—
People of hope in the midst of despair,
Joy in the midst of sorrow,
Faith in the midst of fear,
Truth in the midst of confusion,
Generosity in the face of need.
Indeed, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of your kingdom.
We pray that our spiritual citizenship will make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens of this earth.
And may we put our trust in you always.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and for the sake of his love.
AMEN.
– Adapted, Author unknown