Sitting at a ferry dock in Cos, Greece, we made friends with a Turkish couple. She shared with us about her country (as we were readying to board a ferry to get there). She spoke of the freedoms they used to experience, and how they are losing them. She told us how Turkey is surrounded by opposing nations. If they make allies in one direction, they make enemies of another. At one point, she said that if they befriend a certain country (maybe Iraq or Iran, I forget) the US will turn against them. The way she spoke of the US made me think we were just as much of a threat to Turkey as the countries much nearer are, and that the countries of the world are heavily influenced by our politics. No wonder it’s our politics on every news channel I saw overseas.
Today, I ran into an old friend on the streets of Athens (Ohio, not Greece). When I asked her how she was doing, she said “Anxious”. Not knowing how to respond, I said “I think most of the country feels like that right now.” But there were actually two other thoughts oscillating around in my mind, at the same time. One was: “As is the rest of the world!” and the other was: “Except for me. I’m not anxious.”
And it hit me, once again, like the tide rolling in strong, that I am seriously NOT ANXIOUS. I have wondered at the mercy of it for weeks, especially since returning from overseas and having nothing to distract me from this impending election. The last many elections have filled me with increasing dread. I have seen how quickly a country can turn. What my Turkish friend sees from another part of the world, I have witnessed up close.
So, why, if I am so keenly aware of the gravity of tomorrow’s outcome, do I feel such peace?
And the only conclusion I can come up with is that I trust Jesus more than I did the last time, and the time before that. But it’s not a superficial trust in what He is able to do. It’s actually hope… hope that moves beyond the temporal and into the Eternal. I have peace because I know the Sovereign One, who sometimes allows suffering for His people, only does so out of His own wisdom and goodness. He brings deep comfort in our afflictions, and makes far-surpassing glory out of the hardest and sharpest parts of our stories. I believe redemption is such a powerful force that it makes any and all suffering worth it, for those who belong to God.
In the past couple of weeks, I stood in a cave where John was exiled for 18 months after they tried to kill him and couldn’t, stared at what are believed to be Peter’s chains, visited a prison cell where they think Peter and Paul were imprisoned together, stood on the Bema seat where Paul once stood to give a defense, saw the Ephesus theater where the blood-thirsty masses (about 24,000 people) were crying out against Paul, and I stood in underground tunnels where Christians buried one another and hid during the persecution of a maniacal Emperor who would burn Christians like torches to light the streets, and drag them into the Colosseum to be eaten by lions before a mocking audience.
I saw how God provided for His children under incredibly harsh circumstances! I saw how they hoped in things beyond what they could see, and it gave them supernatural courage for what was directly before them!
I realize our earthly comforts and temporal freedoms are on the line. I realize if countries on the other side of the world are affected by the results of tomorrow’s election, then those of us who live in the States will be affected even more.
However, what is even more clear to me is that my God is the Creator and Sustainer of the entire world and all the galaxies! He is the Eternal King, who has all authority, and has proven it again and again, on a micro and a macro scale! His wisdom and purpose are far more glorious than I could even begin to fathom, even when it all looks like a tragedy. The truth is, if He wants to, He can bring deliverance in the most uncanny ways (like a teenager slaying a giant with a sling shot, or an army of 300 men without swords attacking an army more plentiful than the sand on the shore)… but sometimes He doesn’t deliver right away, and that’s purposed for good, as well.
So perhaps my peace is also born out of surrender. Trust, hope and surrender.
While kneeling over what is believed to be John the Apostle’s grave in Ephesus, it occurred to me that these “men of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38) “not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35) were the reason I know Jesus. These early Christians, who suffered under psychopathic Nero and the likes, were simply trying to stay faithful during a VERY tumultuous time in the world’s history, and because of their faithfulness and how they testified of the worth of Christ, often at the expense of their own blood, I (and many, many others) are keenly aware that Jesus is worth more than all the treasures of this world!
They belonged to a different country… a Celestial one. So do I. And that is why I have peace (and not anxiety) about this election. It’s not that we won’t deal with consequences. I am certain there will be consequences either way this turns. But if my suffering should leave a ripple effect for the Kingdom of heaven that lasts thousands of years, or until Christ returns, it would all be worth it. My temporal existence means very little to me compared to my eternal one.
Don’t worry, I’m still going to vote. I do have wishes about the election results, but if my wishes aren’t God’s will, I trust His wisdom and goodness far above mine. I trust that, regardless of what happens on this planet, that I will soon live in inexpressible joy, and the inexpressible joy will last much longer than the effects of this election. In the immortalized words of Paul (who was much wiser than I am) “If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied” (1 Corinthians 15:19).
For the glory of the One who will remain King regardless of who becomes president!
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