11/6/2024
When I was a
small child, my father would throw me up in the air and catch me. I would laugh
and say “Again, daddy.” Upon becoming a father, I delighted in throwing my son
high, high up, and catching him. Do fathers just like throwing children? No.
Fathers love seeing joy burst forth from their kids. There’s no better feeling
in the world. Why do the kids go along with it? Why, at 4 years old, would I
say, “Again, daddy?” Why would my 2-year-old son, being hurled aloft, have a
look of delight on his face? Trust. Trust in safety; trust that the protector
wants goodness, fun, and happiness for you; trust that the one protecting you will
put your needs first.
Is it hard
to trust, living in the world as it is today? Maybe. Truth be told, I have many
nights where I am awake at odd hours, unable to sleep because I find the world
to be untrustworthy. Sometimes it angers me. Sometimes it scares me. It always
tires me out. Exhausted, I must retreat into the arms of the Lord, who I know
has my best interests at heart. At the very core of Christian joy and freedom
is absolute dependence on God and absolute trust in God. We muddle along in a
fallen, broken world, a world of pain and death, a world of contention and
anger. Yet, even amid the chaos and pain of sin running amok, we can have joy
and delight because of who walks with us. Our God can be trusted.
What
happened on November 5 neither changes that nor confirms it. Some of those
reading this were pretty happy about the election results. Some were upset by
how things went. The results are not a confirmation of God’s providence or
special calling on the United States; neither were the results four years ago,
or four years before that. God does not rescue worldly empires or favor one
nation over others. In fact, the Bible, read through a New Testament lens, does
not endorse any earthly government, not in Jerusalem, not Rome, not Washington
DC. God’s word calls followers of Jesus to a sanctified indifference with the
way the world is, including the United States government.
Sanctified indifference does not mean
with withdraw from the world. Quite the opposite. God sends us to the world,
and as citizens, we vote, we pay taxes, we serve in the military, and we might
even run for office. Even as we fully participate in society, all the while we
know we are aliens here (Philippians 3:20). Our destiny is the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Therefore,
we do not ever tie our confidence to election results. We do not rely on the
performance of presidents, senators, governors, or judges. “It is better to
take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes” (Psalm 118:9).
Our so-called earthly leaders are untrustworthy, and trust is too valuable to
give to those who won’t handle it with care. What happens if the dad throws his
child up and then walks away, as the child plummets back down? If the child
survives, he won’t gleefully say, “Again daddy!” He won’t trust a protector who
fails to catch him. Eventually, the president and other elected officials will
betray our trust and we will fall. It is better, says the Bible, not to put our
confidence in princes (or presidents).
The Lord can
be trusted. That’s why we should do our best to resist outrage or elation over
the election results. Elections, but if we are truly in Christ, they
aren’t that important. We can’t be too upset. We have too much joy from
our trustworthy God. Conversely, if our candidate won, we aren’t too giddy
because we know real joy doesn’t come from him or her. We find real joy when we
turn to the source: our triune God – Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It is to God
that we give all our trust, knowing He will catch us, hold us, and walk with
us. That’s true regardless of anything that happens.
