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The Answer Isn't Found at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue By Pastor Lewis Kiger of Memorial Heights Baptist Church There always seems to be that “one guy.” That one person that just has to ruin it for everyone. The one who people wish would just go away. The one they call “party-pooper.” The old stick-in-the-mud, the killjoy, the wet blanket. And as much as it grieves me to be that guy … I am afraid I must.
I am sorry to rain on your parade but if you thought, for just one
moment, that waking up to a new president-elect on November 9 was going
to solve all of our problems and issues, you are sure to be
disappointed. I hate to break it to you, but regardless of who received
270 electoral votes, our nation is still in a huge mess … fiscally,
morally, and spiritually.
It is my opinion – whether or not the person you voted for won – it is
not a time for celebration. Oh, yes I know. Some who have relentlessly
campaigned for their candidate will float happily around for a few days,
skipping around on their party platform thinking that they have saved
the day for America. Again, I am sorry to be “that guy,” but the hope
for America (or for any nation for that matter) is not in who is
governing from the capitol, but He who is ruling from the Heavenly
Throne.
I realize that it matters who is elected. Full well do we acknowledge
God’s Word which declares in
Proverbs 29:2
that “when the righteous are in authority the
people rejoice.” But friends, the righteous are not in authority. (And
that is true, regardless of who the President-elect is.) The righteous
are not governing in the White House, nor in the Congress, nor in the
Senate. While there are some good God-fearing men and women who are
serving our nation, they are the in the vast minority.
With that in mind, we need to consider the rest of that verse, for it
holds true as well. It says, “when the wicked bear rule, the people
mourn.” Rather than sending up high praise for answered prayer, we ought
to be mourning that our nation has drifted so far from God, that we
would celebrate the election of either of these two candidates.
Folks, we as Americans need to face some hard truths.
As a nation, we still are responsible for the death of 3,300 children a
day by abortion. We have watched the degeneration of the family, to the
point where the most basic building block of society, the home, has been
completely disfigured. The national debt we are handing down to our
children and grandchildren is just criminal. Our nation is racially
polarized. Our police officers are under attack. All the while, we are
debating over whether or not grown men should be allowed in the ladies’
restroom!
We are told every four years that this is the “most important election
of our lifetime.” So, for those of you who are heart-broken and
mystified that your candidate was not chosen, I submit to you that it is
not time for a pity party either. I hate to be a prude, but 270
Electoral College votes for the candidate of your
choice was not the answer either.
God’s Word rightly says in
Psalms 146:3
that we are not to put our hope in princes. In
other words, our confidence should not be in men, but in God. The arm of
flesh will always fail us. Trusting in politicians is the doorway to
disappointment. If we are looking for politicians to make us Stronger
Together, or Make America Great Again, we are sure to be disillusioned.
Our hope for this nation must be in God and in Him alone. The solution
for all our woes will not come from man-made rules and laws. The answer
for our afflictions will not be found by who occupies the West Wing. We
will only find a cure in humble obedience to what God has declared in
His Word. Earning 270 electoral votes is not the answer for what ails
America. God is the answer. Rather than touting the praises of the
ungodly, we should shout the gospel from the rooftops. Let us lovingly
declare, by word and life, the atoning death and glorious resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ as the only hope for a sin-sick nation.
We need to pray for our leadership. Pray for our nation. Pray for the
President-elect and yes, also pray for those who did not win. Yet our
prayers should be first and foremost that all will come to a saving
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ – the righteous ruler in whom all
should rejoice.
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