{my graphics are free goodies for you}
I am writing this before the election results are in. Before the first numbers flash on the screen and the commentators in their suits and skirts begin telling us what it all means. Before there is red or blue scattered across the map.
I want to talk about what we need to know in the middle of a political season that has rolled like the ocean. Where scandals and cynicism are as common as the sand on the shore. Where it seems we are picking sides and picking fights even more than picking candidates.
I am weary of it all. Perhaps you are too. And maybe, just maybe, we are a little afraid too. And this is why we think, somehow, in our weaker moments, that our hope is in a person or a party. That our future can be spelled out on a ballot. That who lives in the White House really determines the security of the foundation of our house.
So can we all take a deep breath right now and remember what’s true? Remember how the future is not an outcome, not an elected official. Our future is a God who hung stars in place, who spoke the world into being, who keeps it twirling on its axis still. The One who watches a billion sparrows hatch, who knows the feathers on their wings and numbers the hairs on our heads. The One who went to a cross for us and defeated death itself when He stepped outside an empty tomb.
The hands that hold us are not the ones of the baby-kissing politicians, not the ones who pass the laws or make the campaign promises. No, we are in the hands of the One big enough to contain the mountains and valleys, all the maps and the globes and every country on them.
Could there be hard times ahead? Certainly. Will there be surprises and tragedies and people who fall short of what they claim to be? As long as we’re on this broken earth, yes. But do we also have every reason to hope, every reason to march toward tomorrow with courage and love? Oh, yes, yes. Always and always.
No matter what the results of this election may be, God will still be in charge. He is good and wise and not startled or overwhelmed by any of this. We do not need to fear the future; we need to fear Him. And not in the sense of being afraid but in the more traditional meaning of the word, which has more to do with respect and trust and awe.
This is the reality. This is the truth. This is our hope:
No matter which president we get, we will still have the same King.
“Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, ‘The Lord reigns!'” {1 Chron. 16:31}
XOXO
Holley Gerth
p.s. I’ll be talking more about Overcoming Fear of the Future in a free live #MoreThanSmallTalk Facebook video with Suzie Eller and Jennifer Watson. To join us, just go to Suzie’s Facebook page on Tuesday the 8th–election day!–at 3:30 CT. If you miss the live version, a recorded version will be available on Suzie’s page.
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Welcome to the Coffee for Your Heart weekly link-up! You’re an encourager so I’m asking you to pour out a little love with your words {link-up goes live at 5:30am CST}. Simply write an encouraging blog post and then share it here. Don’t have a blog? You can still write an encouraging comment. If you’re reading this by email, go to holleygerth.com to see all the fun and join in too.
Pretty please use this button in your blog post so others can easily join in with us {html code in right sidebar}. And when you link up your post, take a moment to leave an encouraging comment on the one that’s linked up just before yours. Thanks, friends!
I’m having Coffee For Your Heart with my friend Holley Gerth
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