How Christians Should Think About The 2024 Election
Providentially (I think), I am to give a short devotional to the senior adult ministry at my church today. I have heard their thoughts about this upcoming election through conversation and being among them over the last few months. Some are very passionate about one candidate or the other. Some have simply given up. But for a lot of them, they are fearful and unsure of the future.
If any of us give much thought to what the future holds it would be easy to land in a place of fear. Anytime the country you live in feels unstable this is a normal reaction. As Christians though, how are we to deal with the reality that the country we live in might get worse instead of better? You may have your opinions about who will make the country better, or worse, but the reality is you get one vote and then 99.9% of the rest is not in your control.
I am not anti-America, I’m thankful for the country I live in. I am also not anti-politics. I think they really matter and are important. But I also think that we need a reframing of who God is in times of uncertainty. How we behave, how we think, what we trust, and how we respond to how the American 2024 election plays out reveals whether we think God is God, or someone else is God.
Here is the devotional I plan to give today at church, I pray it is helpful for you if you find yourself in a place of fear or uncertainty:
Psalm 46
As I prayed and considered speaking to you today I could not shake the chance to speak to you about the election. Now, I’m not going to advocate for anyone or bash our country, or tell you politics don’t matter. I love our country and I think politics are important. But I want us to consider this morning, does God have anything to say in these times?
Turn with me to Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
God, when wanting to describe what he is in a time of trouble gives us three images: Our refuge, our strength, and our help. He does not say he is our nation, or our army, those are far too impersonal for God. God is our refuge. A safe place to hide in when we feel alone. God is our strength, when we feel weak and weary, he provides what we need to continue on despite the circumstances. He is our “very present help”. Notice the word very there, he is close when we need help. He is not far off today.
How many times in the Bible do we as the readers see God’s work in the background of the story, but the character in the story is blind to it? I’ve been reading the book of Genesis lately and I just finished the story of Joseph. Man, what a guy whose life just beats him up and it seems like God is nowhere. He gets sold as a slave by his brothers, and forgotten in a jail cell after being falsely accused… was God near? He and others may have said no in the moment, but we know the truth. God was at work because, through all of those circumstances, God was setting up Joseph to save his family and his people from famine. God was “very present help” even though he did not seem like it.
So in your life, oftentimes when God feels most far he is up to something. He is nearer than he feels and that you can imagine. God is doing 1,000 things in your life and you may be aware of 2 of them. (John Piper) God has not promised us an easy life, He has promised to be enough for us no matter what life looks like.
2 Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,
though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah
Therefore… because God is our refuge and strength and very present help, we will what? Not fear… If this political cycle has you in fear, hear God’s reminder this morning… Because God is our refuge and strength we will not fear. He is inviting us to trust him.
“Oh but you don’t understand Josh, it’s going to get bad if so and so wins…” Yeah, maybe. Maybe it just gets bad no matter what. Maybe America just keeps going downhill for 300 years and it gets dark and difficult. Have we forgotten that for the majority of Christian history Christians live in difficult nations?
What does the text say? Therefore, we will not fear… though the earth gives way, the mountains moved and the waters roar and foam… what is he saying here? He is saying, if things in this world we have no control over start toppling and things we can’t imagine happen like mountains moving into the sea, we will not fear.
He is making this extreme example to show that if the extreme happens, we will still not fear because we are deeply rooted in the character of God towards us. Do you want more stability and peace in these tumultuous times? Meditate on the character of God. Root yourself in that rather than the news cycles.
If the political figure you want to win doesn’t win tonight, “we will not fear, for god is our help and refuge and we trust Him”. If gets harder to be a Christian, not easier “We will not fear, for God is our help and refuge and we trust Him”. If the economy gets worse, not better, “we will not fear, for God is our help and refuge and we trust him.” Though we do not want any of those things to happen and pray for peace and blessing over where we live, the reality is like the moving of mountains and the roaring of seas we are not in control. And so rather than looking to our circumstances to determine whether we trust and have faith in God or not, we simply look to God, come what may, as our refuge, strength, and help in these times.
Who is in control? The powerful? The presidents? The kings?
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;
God will help her when morning dawns.
6 The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
Look at verses 6 and 7.
The Lord of hosts is with us… The God who made the earth, and the stars, and the sun and the moon, and the waters and the mountains, who is above all things and nothing is over, he is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Why this reminder of the “God of Jacob”?
Because it reminds the people of how faithful God was to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. Things didn’t always go well for them and things did not always go “to plan” but God was never out of control. God was always faithful to his promises and to his people and he isn’t going to stop now, in the 2024 election cycle. This is a tiny blip on the timeline of history. Nations have grown and fallen. Kings have ruled and died. God’s purposes and plans have never been thwarted or threatened.
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord,
how he has brought desolations on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the chariots with fire.
10 “Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and behold the works of the lord, it’s this invitation to remember what God has done.
1- Circumstances are not good indicators of if God is in control or not.
2- God always comes through for His people, even if in ways they do not expect.
Consider Israel in Egypt, how long were they slaves there? 400ish years.
How long did Israel wander in the desert? 40 years
How long was Israel in exile in Babylon? 40-70 years
How long between the last prophet and the coming of Jesus? 400ish years.
In each of these examples, we behold the work of the Lord. Circumstances are not good indicators of if God is in control and at work and God always comes through for his people, but his timeline is not our timeline. Do not look to what is going on outside to determine if God is good and trustworthy, that is not faith or trust, faith is hoping in something we cannot see with our eyes.
Verse 9
In that time period, how did you reign politically? With a big army. God is saying here he is above all politics and all armies and all nations, do not attach him to those things. He is far above them.
Verse 10
And here is the climax of this Psalm, as the psalmist looks at how bad the earth can get and how so much is outside of our control, and how able and strong and firm God is… what is his ending plea to us as Children of God in times of trouble and chaos and difficulties? When the nation you live in is divided and declining, when it’s hard to be a Christian, when you aren’t sure what the future holds when you are fearful of how all this plays out… God says gently but plainly, “be still and know that I am God”
Notice the quotes - God is telling us to be still. The Hebrew here can mean to let go or release. Another way we could say it is, to open your hands to the reality that you are a mere human being, a mortal, and God is God. You are not. The king is not. The president is not. The armies are not. They are all humans. God alone is God and there is nothing higher than him, so be at rest.
There is no question
“I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Does it say I hope to be exalted in the nations? Does it say I might be exalted among the earth? Does it say if everything goes right, I could be exalted?
No. It says “I will be”. No matter what happens, no matter how bad it gets, no matter what it seems like, this is true. God will be exalted among the nations and in the earth. At the end of days of this earth when Christ returns, all will see the reality that He is above all things and nothing was ever above Him. There is no question. He will be exalted.
This verse takes our vantage to the end of times when all this is over and God creates a “new heaven and a new earth”. At the end of all of time, God will be in control and it will be revealed that He was always in control. And with eyes that finally understand we will look back and see with clarity that God was always right.
Have courage
It is not lost on me that this can be a difficult time for us, maybe more so for the older generation because you’ve seen more than young people like me have. I know we can be fearful and nervous about the state of our country and how all this plays out and what the future holds. And while I want to comfort us and provide a depth of peace in the bedrock of God’s ruling and kingship over all things, I also want to challenge us.
Have courage.
For the vast majority of human history life has been hard and the world has been a fierce place to be, and more so for Christians. And that never stopped the spread of God’s kingdom, actually, we were made and placed in this time period for specific reasons. We are God’s messengers in this time, not someone else. We are. God has given us a holy task to be light in dark places. I pray our country is a place of peace and safety, but let’s just say it isn’t. Let’s say it just gets really really really bad.
We have two options
We shrink back in fear and a lack of trust, insulating ourselves and becoming bitter and hateful of the world. Or, we with God-given courage based on the reality that He is King over all things and powerful, we walk in faith like the apostles did and live our Christian lives in the moment God has placed us, representing Jesus’ love and faithfulness to all we meet.
There’s a story in Acts of the disciples, they are trying to be examples to their world of Jesus and teaching others about Jesus, and then the government doesn’t like it. So they call them in and
they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Acts 5:40–42.
What if they were so fearful and nervous about the governments and the way the world was moving that they shrank back? They lived in tumultuous political times! We have much to learn from our dear brothers and sisters of old.
They walked in courage and rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. God put us here, not someone else, to be his representatives in the world, whether it gets better out there or not. Let us be comforted this morning, God is King and in control and he is our refuge and strength. If this election cycle makes you fearful, take that to God. He cares.
But let us also know that God has called us to this time. To be loving, faithful witnesses of Him in a dark world. Don’t shrink back from that, that’s what the enemy wants you to do in fear. The enemy would rather you be so fearful and discouraged by politics that you forget your spiritual calling to worship God, not country, and serve Him in the times we have whether good or bad.
God is God, have courage. Take what fear you have, hold it, look at it, feel it, then give it to God and open your hands to his ways. He is good and faithful and in control my friends, He is.