After my last blog post, one of my three readers said that it sounded nice to hold onto faith over fear, but that it’s easier said than done. I couldn’t agree more! So how do you do it?

You ask for God’s help! A simple prayer, something like, “Help me, Jesus,” is all it takes. You can always add, “I need your help,” or “I need you to take this fear from me.” A few simple words and the Light of the World will step between us and the darkness.

Does this always work? Yes!

But for how long? Well, that depends on you and me. If you’re anything like me, I feel a tremendous sense of peace the moment I hand whatever blech I’m dealing with over to God. But then for reasons I can’t explain and seemingly can’t block, at some point I stomp right on up to Jesus and yank that nastiness back out of His hands. It may be several days, weeks, or months later. Or, sadly, it could be just a few moments later. It’s as if I’m saying, “Sorry, God, turns out I can’t trust you with this after all. Only I can handle it!” It seems ridiculous, I know, when I say it like this, but that’s essentially what I’m doing–what we’re all doing–when we grab it right back from Him.

But here’s some truly amazing news: God’s grace knows no bounds. So as soon as I realize how foolish it was to yank that struggle away from Him, and I skulk sheepishly back to Him and ask Him to take it back, He does. Maybe with a twinkle in His eye, as if saying, “Sure, I’ll take it back for the thousandth time. Are you going to let me keep it this time?” And this is the tug-of-war I play repeatedly with so many facets of my life. It’s part of my journey.

With the 2020 election just two days away in the U.S., I have to admit that this is one of the areas where I have had this back-and-forth with God. Candidly, I am very concerned for the future of this great country if the various important races and initiatives go a certain way. So at times I find myself praying for a particular set of outcomes.

But then this thought has occurred to me: God cares more about furthering His Kingdom more than He does about any particular country. That may seem hard to accept for those of us who believe that America has been blessed as “one nation under God.” But on the other hand, Israel was God’s chosen people, yet it had disappeared from the map from the time the Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, or you could say from when the Babylonians destroyed the southern kingdom of Judah (where Jerusalem was) in 586 BC, until it once again became a nation in 1948. For over 2500 years, Israel had ceased to exist! It was part of the Roman Empire when Jesus walked the earth.

So while I believe God cares deeply for you and me, I think He cares more about our spirits and our souls and where we will spend eternity than He does about what happens in the new few days, months, or even years. And if one election outcome or another would lead more Americans–or better yet, more people in the world–into deep relationship with Him, He would undoubtedly choose that outcome over whichever one you or I may be praying for.

At #NewLifeChurch, we are so fortunate to be in the middle of a sermon series on Revelation (and I don’t believe in coincidences, at least not when it comes to God!). Today, Pastor Brady Boyd preached from Revelation 17, which includes these verses:

“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast.  They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.  They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”

Revelation 17:12-14 (NIV, my emphasis added to echo Brady’s)

And then one of the best things Pastor Brady said during his message, which helps bring this blog post home:

“I don’t know of a donkey or an elephant that can save my soul, but I know a Lamb that can!”

Pastor Brady Boyd–November 1, 2020

So no matter what happens in the election on Tuesday, Jesus, the Lamb of God, will triumph. Remembering that and believing it will help us choose faith over fear regarding the future of our country. Even if we have to keep wrestling with God about it, taking it back but then handing it over to him again and again, many times between then and now, the Lamb will win. Thanks be to God!