Are You Ready for the Elections?

Are you as relieved as I am that we only have one more week of this crazy election cycle? On the other hand, after the adds, banners, signs and commercials go away, we still have to deal with the consequences of the election. How are you processing the choices ahead? How do you perceive the vote? If you are a parent, how do your children see you respond to this season?

The media, both left and right, have based their platforms of fear. Unfortunately, many Christian leaders have written pieces in support of one of many candidates that uses fear based manipulative speech to try and persuade people to their view point. Many people are frantic and anxious about the results. Some have even said they are leaving the country if they don’t get their way.

Now let me ask you, is that the kind of response that should typify the Christian’s perspective?

I say a hearty “NO” to that! That is not what we see in the Bible.

If we were to consider the time in which the New Testament was written and think about the emperors that came into power during that time (Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, and Nero), we should find it odd that the NT is not riddled with anxious fear of human government. If you think our candidates are bad, read about Nero for a minute. And that doesn’t even compare to the many political changes seen in the Old Testament.

Instead, we see commandment after commandment to trust God and honor human government. I would love to spend more time unpacking the NT perspective, but I find the story of Daniel particularly helpful in gaining a proper view of human government, especially in this election season.

The Background

Babylon had arisen to be the dominate world power and king Nebuchadnezzar was conquering nations. As he moved across the land, defeating all whom he opposed, he would take the best and brightest of each nation back to Babylon. There he would educate them in the universities of Babylon and indoctrinate them into the Babylonian lifestyle.

Daniel and his three friends Hanniniah, Azariah and Misheal were taken from Jerusalem and taken to Babylon. These boys were probably all in their early teen years.

Think about it. Their world was torn from them. Everything they knew was flipped upside down. They were forced to have new names, speak a new language and study new disciplines in order to try and force them to be someone else.

When we think of this, our political system doesn’t seem too bad.

Daniel’s Promise – Daniel 1:8

Daniel doesn’t panic under this new regime. His first course of action is to decide what he must do to stay faithful to his faith in God. He identifies a law of God and makes his stand not to eat the king’s meat or to defile himself before God. Even though refusing the meal could have cost him his life, he took a stand.

Courage is contagious. Daniel took a stand and his three friends joined him. And God rewarded them for it. Not only did God spare their life, but blessed their bodies and mind. The king saw their potential and promoted them to join his wise men.

Daniel’s Plight – Daniel 2:1-12

Even though Daniel has found himself in a good position, things continue to go from bad to worse. Not only is he in a foreign land under a pagan ruler, but that ruler had a dream and wants an interpretation from his wise men. In order not to be fooled, Nebuchadnezzar refuses to tell the dream to the wise men. They must reveal the dream and the interpretation to him or all the wise men in the kingdom will be killed.

The Babylonian wise men tell the king what he is asking is impossible for no human could do that. The king ordered all the wise men to be put to death, when Daniel finds out about it. We don’t see Daniel and his friends anxious or defeated, no they have a better strategy.

Daniel’s Prayer – Daniel 2:13-19

After asking the king for more time, Daniel gathered his friends and sought the Lord in prayer. They didn’t plot a way of escape. They didn’t give up in despair. They got on their knees and asked God to reveal the kings dream.

Their prayer was for mercy from God to spare the lives of Daniel and his friends, but also to spare the lives of the Babylonian wise men. These Babylonians despised the four Jewish men. Yet Daniel sought their good.

Daniel’s Praise – Daniel 2:19-23

God was responded to his faithful servants and revealed the dream. Daniel and his friends immediately broke out in a worship service. They praised God who is in control of all things. In his praise, Daniel reveals the heart attitude of the believer. This is a good passage to check your heart against during the elections. This is the passage I go to for my confidence in God when change is before me.

When it comes to Climate Change, God controls the times and the seasons.

When it comes to Presidential Elections, God raises up kings and removes kings.

He is the one who can give wisdom and knowledge to leaders.

He knows the hidden things and what’s coming next

Darkness cannot overcome Him for the Light dwells with Him.

He is the God who answers prayer.

We believe that God is the Author and Giver of Life, why do we doubt Him in elections? Can we learn to have a simple and deep faith like Daniel?

Yes, we can. Focus your eyes first on Christ and what God is doing and He will give you a clearer view of our current circumstance.

Daniel’s Promotion – 2:47-49

We don’t have time to go into the dream and it’s interpretation, but I’d encourage you to read it. Daniel delivers the news to the king. True to his word, the king promotes Daniel, but I don’t think the promotion is what made Daniel’s day.

“Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” – King Nebuchadnezzar

Wow!! Here we hear a pagan king, one who often ascribed himself as a god, give praise to the one true God!

When we have the proper perspective of life. When we realize that we have died to the sinful flesh and have been made alive in Christ, we have nothing to fear. We do not have to worry about these elections. We do not have to get caught up in fear and manipulation. We don’t have to post angry responses to the opposing viewpoints. No, we carry ourselves as Daniel did. We decide what we must do to stay faithful to our God and we seek Him and His glory above all else.

Jesus said it this way, “let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven!”