Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Polly Ticks

During this election year, I'm sure we in the United States have followed the primaries. Earlier this spring, I can't remember when, I heard a guy crunch the numbers. On the Democratic side of the race, the primaries won't secure the votes needed for a clear winner. Neither Clinton nor Obama will get the minimum required to gain the nomination. Soooo, where does that leave the election? At the moment, the superdelegates. That's how I see it.

What can we do? I'm pretty well decided on who I'm going to vote for, but I sense a held-back panic in some circles. What if the one who gets elected in November doesn't believe just like we do? What if someone is more liberal, or more conservative? What are we going to do? Defect? (Insert sounds of shrieking, screaming, wailing, and the sounds of opening suitcases)

Throughout thousands of years of history, God has been at work in politics. It would be nice to say, "Okay, Lord, which party do You belong to?" But it doesn't work that way. I don't know why, but where do we start thinking He's blind to what's going on in the affairs of the nations? Maybe it's when things don't work like we believe they ought to. Or when the ones we elected don't deliver on their promises? (Another aside: Don't believe all those promises. It's important to know what someone stands for and which projects they champion, but as I learned from my trip to Washington last summer, there is a balance of power for a reason.)

I found this in Chroniciles... In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing:
"This is what Cyrus king of Persia says:
" 'The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and he has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. Anyone of his people among you—may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up.' "

I remember hearing that story years ago, how the Lord used King Cyrus to rebuild a temple in Jerusalem. Looking at the news now, this translates to me that: A Persian king (modern-day Iraq) decides to build a Jewish temple in Jerusalem, and he would let the people just go home to do this? Talk about an unlikely political move.

God has no party. He is over all. He can use the most unlikely people as instruments of His will. He will always honor His Word. No matter who is in office.

So, don't fear. Don't panic. Don't spread rumors. We definitely should be praying for those superdelegates!