Preparing

As we get ready to leave on Sunday (I'm still pinching myself), you may wonder what we're doing to prepare. Well, we've been cleaning (I can't stand leaving on a trip with a messy house; I love to come back to order). I have to write out the kids lesson plans for the time we are gone since the relatives they'll stay with will need some kind of framework with which to monitor homework.
We have also been shopping for various things we didn't yet have for Maxim, such as a good winter coat. All of the carpet will be professionally cleaned on Wednesday. I regularly vacuum and spot clean but want an especially good job done before we leave because since Maxim cannot walk due to his club feet, a bit of time will be spent on the floor when not in his wheelchair.

I've also been considering the upcoming elections in a different way because we will not be in the United States on November 4. It's the first time I have qualified for an absentee ballot.
With this in mind, bear with me as I reprint an article I wrote in December of 2007. Just know my heart to obey the command we have as believers to spur each other on to good works; to righteousness. Consider it a loving challenge.

What Do We Do Now?

Here in the United States of America, in just a matter of days, we will enter a Presidential election year. The pressure is already on between those individuals hoping to become their parties’ candidates. People across the country are contemplating how to “choose the right person” when the final voting day arrives in November. Some are considering whether or not it is even appropriate to participate in the process.

For the purpose of this article, I will address some scriptural principles and precedents set by God in the matter of who may have power over a nation and what effect the people, specifically professing believers in Christ the Messiah, may have on who their leaders are.

For the purpose of this article, I must also state that what God did with the Israelites is the precedent for how He deals with the Body of Christ today. Everything that happens affecting the Body of Christ today is modeled after, and simply a continuing extension of, His work with the Israelites. If we are in Christ, we are of Abraham’s seed and heirs to the promises (Galatians 3:26-29; I John 5:1). We are subjects, as was Abraham. This is important for us to recognize as believers, during this time of transition in the leadership of our nation.

It is established in scripture that no one has power over anything or anyone unless God allows it. If someone becomes the leader of a nation, it is because God has allowed that to happen. Understand, however, that this does not mean God’s will has necessarily always been for that particular person to be in power. This is where we as believers, fit in. You may be surprised to find out the most critical way you fit into the process.

God is both firm and loving, the divine hand of both discipline and mercy. In fact, His discipline is a component of His mercy (Hebrews 12:6). In Torah (first five books of the Bible), He clearly expressed His commandments and statutes to the people. They are our roadmap to this day. Along with the list of “thou shall’s” and “thou shalt not’s”, He gives a clear outline of the blessings or cursings which result from our choices to obey or disobey.

As the Israelites were prepared by God to enter the promised land, He explained to them what a place of abundance and blessing and peace it would be for them, once they had carried out His instructions as they entered Canaan. He explained to them explicitly that this would be their home as long as they remained faithful to obey Him and live according to His ways. In addition, God stated that if they were not faithful to His commands, they would find themselves in bondage to pagan and/or harsh rulers once again, inside or outside the land.

God was making an undeniable connection between the obedience of the people to all of the principles He had laid out for them, and who would have the position of physical leadership over them.

Nothing has changed. As Americans, including many professing Christians, we have become very good, in general, at blaming anyone but ourselves for what is happening around us, and even off in Washington D.C. However, each of us, as professing believers, has to do some personal reckoning. The way we are living our lives, as individuals and as households and as congregations and as a religious community, has a profound but almost completely ignored affect on this next Presidential election. Not because God is our personal magician to do our bidding, but because He has made certain “fixed in stone” promises which are conditional upon our doing His bidding. We as believers have tremendous responsibility placed on us in this process, not because God is ignoring the pagans and unbelievers and their choices have no affect, but because we have been exposed to the truth of His ways and “to whom much is given, much is required.” (Luke 12:48) When the Israelites were disciplined by God, it was always because of their actions or responses to the actions of pagans in the land, not directly because of choices made by the pagans.

Brothers and sisters, we must not blame our ills as a nation solely on the activities of unbelievers among us, or on political parties and leaders. Their ways, and the continued downward spiral of our nation in so many aspects, are simply a reflection of what we have refused to fully address as believers. Prayer was not just suddenly removed from the schools. Something I do not pretend to fully understand happened among believers, over a period of time, before that court decision, and the Body of Christ was not prepared or willing to respond to the issue. Abortion did not just suddenly become legal. Again, believers were “asleep at the wheel” for a period of time beforehand, and then surprised by (or even supportive of) the court’s decision.

As we approach the elections, both primary and final, let us prayerfully examine ourselves, on our knees before the throne of God. May we eagerly ask Him to show us what we need to address as individuals, fathers, mothers, households, congregations and communities, in order to be in line with His ways. Look at His promise in II Chronicles 7:14. Meditate on areas of scripture such as Deuteronomy 6, Psalms 105 and 112, Proverbs 31 and others where we see clear pictures of what a righteous life looks like and God’s promises to the righteous. We must humbly ask Him to reveal the ways we have grieved Him, so that we can repent, turn around, and then press forward in joyful obedience.

That is the most important way that you can participate in this Presidential election, along with being in regular prayer for our current and future leaders. Whether or not you, personally, choose to go to the voting booth is something to also prayerfully and seriously consider. There is a time to speak up (Ecclesiastes 3:7 and Proverbs 31:8,9) and make the most of our freedom of speech and expression and we should not waste that. Voting is one way this may be fulfilled. However, what goes on those ballots on November 4, and who sits in the White House come January 2009, will be determined ahead of time by something much deeper than the name any of us settled on in our own mind. That person’s establishment as our next president rests, perhaps fully, on the condition of the Body of Christ in this nation. God is faithful to the faithful. He is equally consistent in His response to the wicked. He does not forget His promises regarding either. His mercy endures forever. Praise God.