The very first time I voted in an election, was during my Freshman year of college. Growing up, conversations about politics were standard. We did not shy away from these discussions. We talked about politics the same way we talked about what we were having for dinner. We watched the debates together. We watched the conventions together. When I started dating H, I discovered the same thing in his family. If I visited during an election season, the television was on, no matter what. If there was a political scandal in the news, we talked about it, we debated it, we examined it from every angle. Then, we voted.
We didn’t always vote for the same candidate, and our candidate didn’t always “win.” Even when we “lost,” however, the world kept spinning on its axis. After we’d celebrated or mourned the election results, we still had to be about the business of living, regardless of the results.
I’ve been thinking about this aspect of an election season a lot, lately. It does not matter who gets your vote. No matter what happens, we’ll each have to get about the business of living and, for many of us, that means figuring out how to live out our faith, in the wake of the election. With regard to the Presidential elections, here in the United States, the results are going to be what they’re going to be. Whether people vote, or not, and no matter what happens, there is a good chance someone will be in the White House and, regardless of who that is, God will still be God. So, I’ve been focusing my prayers very specifically these days and I thought I’d share three words that help me as I pray:
After
I’ve been asking God to turn my attention to after the election. How can I engage people once the dust settles? How can I build bridges after the last vote has been cast? How can I use my gifts and my influence to point toward hope and to advocate for unity, regardless of who sits in the White House? No matter what happens with the election, my calling will not change. That calling is to love God and to love people. All people. No matter what.
I have found that turning my gaze toward how I might live after the election also draws my thoughts closer to God. I don’t get weighed down by the spectacle of this earthly contest. Instead, by focusing on how I might live after, I find God infusing my imagination with the expectancy of the Holy Spirit. This does not mean I think things will turn out the way I hope they will. Instead, I know that, no matter what, the Spirit that lives in me is greater than the spirit of this world. With that in mind, I can get creative about how I will engage my faith, my intellect, my body, and my neighbor in the days that lie ahead.
In
Jesus might return tomorrow, but then again, He might not. Either scenario is equally possible. For people of faith, and especially for those of us who live in relative comfort, it is tempting to put our hope in the former scenario, and pray that God whisks us out of a difficult situation. We look at the candidates, we listen to their rhetoric, and we cast our eyes to sky and say, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.” And, He might. But then again, He might not.
So, in the event Jesus decides to wait a bit longer for whatever reason, I’ve been asking God to teach me how to live in this world as salt and light, even in the very worst situation. From what I can tell, when I read scripture, God is highly likely to allow us to experience hardship and disappointment without rescuing us out of it. God, it turns out, is much more interested in our character than our comfort, but He also enters in to—and redeems—the hardship (the Red Sea, the wilderness, the fiery furnace, the lion’s den, the valley of the shadow of death), right along with us. In fact, God is there before we even arrive!
For
We’ve spent a lot of energy over the past few decades, making it very clear who and what we are against. I find this to be one of the most disheartening facts about the Church and her people. We have segregated ourselves and we have written diatribes about who can and who cannot do what with whom and where they cannot do it. “No, no, no!” we seem to shout at every juncture. We have locked our elbows and held our arms out in front of us, refusing those whose sin does not look like ours. Our faces look like the faces in those black and white photographs of people shouting down the protesters during the Civil Rights Movement, all in the name of Jesus. Lord, have mercy. But, we can change that, you know. In fact, while I don’t have any special knowledge about this, I would not be surprised if this isn’t one of the reasons Jesus might take His time getting back here, so that we can have more time to figure this out.
God is for people. All people. As His representative I want to be for what God is for. I’m not, though. Not always. There are people I don’t understand. People who make me afraid. People who get on my very last nerve. I’d much rather just go ahead and be against them. It’s easier that way. I’d rather not think about the fact that God loves them just as much as He loves me and He wants nothing more than for “those people” to know that about Him. But if, as God’s representative, I keep locking my elbows and telling them how much they get on my nerves, what good is that to anyone? So, I’ve been praying that God would make me a person who is for people. All people. Wow. What a prayer. I mean, try it. It messes you up on the inside, and then it starts to set you straight.
I’m sharing these things, simply because they are helping me. I don’t have it all worked out. Every now and then, I still find myself all tangled up in the latest spin and the latest news cycle. But, the more I focus on after, in, and for, the less of a hold those other things seem to have on me. My heart feels lighter, my hope feels surer, my soul feels calmer, my peace grows richer. I don’t share these things as if the dangers of this world are not very real and very present. They are. In fact, I am well aware that not even my life is promised to me. I understand the stakes are high. But, I cannot let my comfort, my safety, or even my life become an idol, distracting me from living whatever time I have left as an ambassador of God’s Kingdom, on earth, as it is in heaven.
The Kingdom of God runs on love. That is its fuel. You cannot convince me otherwise. It is not power. It is not safety. It is not being right. It is love. Fear and anger and hatred and division stop love in its tracks. I cannot allow those things to be part of my life. I cannot give them space in my head or in my heart. Perfect love, the bible tells me, casts out fear. I know I’m a long way off from perfect love. But, the little bit of what I know about love tells me the bible is right about this. Love and fear cannot live together. When we can tap into love, we will have done something spectacular.
Love alone—not power, not safety, not comfort, not being right—is what will sustain us in the days ahead, come what may.
I adore you. That is all.
Same. 🙂
Ditto what Karrilee said. But I also just want to say in my own words that while I don’t comment much or say much period on social media (particularly regarding politics), I do a lot of reading (listening). And I ALWAYS appreciate and value how you contribute and share your heart. I have a deep respect for you, Deidra. So thankful God gave us the opportunity to meet in the online world and in real life. God bless you, friend. Love your new look here. <3
I really, really appreciate this, Beth. I agree. So glad our paths have crossed. Peace to you, sister.
Deidra,
Thank you, as always, for clarity and calm. You are Jesus to my Peter (you with the blessings and me with the sword). About the only 3 words I can string together lately are “Fix it, Jesus,” as we have done a fine job of messing it up. Keep it up. Your words are a necessary balm to so many who are sick and weary. My it’s a long time until November…..
May His Peace be with you always,
Chelle
I have the deepest respect for you, Chelle. So glad to be in the arena with you. It is a long time until November, and also a very short time. I keep hearing the words of Julian of Norwich, like a whisper in my heart: “All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”
We may use up every last breath and drop of blood, getting to the “all shall be well,” but we will get there together. Much love to you.
Man oh man, did I need to read something with clarity like this. Thanks, Deidra. As usual you bring your perspective into an area where I lack it so deeply!
Peace to you, Diane. Thanks so much for stopping by.
Deidra, I am so grateful for you. I have some zeal for justice and acceptance…a zealotry that makes it easy to be unjust and un-accepting of the people who disagree with me about how things should go. Irony!
I’m grateful that you have the wisdom to go after The Hardest Thing: to be faithful above all else. After reading this, I feel so much more peace.
I have that very same zeal. It gets me in trouble sometimes. 😉
SO glad to hear these few words bring you peace. It means more than you know.
Your wisdom has refreshed, recentered, and recalibrated my soul in the midst of the onslaught of life, media, and political wrangling.
Bless you , friend …
Peace to you, Linda.
I love this post, especially this line….This does not mean I think things will turn out the way I hope they will. Instead, I know that, no matter what, the Spirit that lives in me is greater than the spirit of this world.
I had an epiphany today. I have been bothered by people saying that votes for/against Trump/Hilary (depending on your position) are throw away votes. Today I had total clarity for ME…. the only throw away vote is one that is not cast. Regardless of whether I vote for the main candidates or write a name in, MY VOTE WILL MATTER!
And thankfully, regardless of the results, God is still on His throne and the Bible will not have changed. I am to love!
So glad that you shared this epiphany here, because this has been my struggle as well. You have reinforced my conviction that staying home and not voting at all is not an act of love at all.
What a beautiful epiphany!
When I went to the Democratic caucus this year, one of my fellow caucus-ers kept telling me I’d be throwing away my vote if I chose to remain undecided. I cannot tell you how much that disappointed me. Yes, indeed! Your vote does matter, and God is quite capable of handling whatever the results of this election may be. Thank you for sharing your insights here with us.
The ‘spectacle’ of the election campaigns is distracting. Thank you for the adjustment in perspective.
You’re welcome, Anne. Thanks so much for reading.
I feel that we need to remember that we are called to worship God, not people. I think too many people these days are trying to put all their trust in a person and not truly relying on God. I pray that I will help the world by showing His love and glory to others. 🙂
Amen to that.
🙂
Amen, my friend. Galatians 5:22, because Romans 12.
🙂
Rarely do I get to read blogs nowadays and even more rare is the time to comment. But I felt the nudge of the Lord to read this post.
You are a woman of peace. It oozes out of your heart onto the page and into the lives of those who read. Peace is a characteristic of a woman who knows she is loved.
Love. Yes. Love. Loving those who are in His image. Loving with prayers – from the politician to the Samaritian in the ditch. Loving does not always mean agreeing. But disagreeing in love opens doors of conversation to become better friends.
I love you Dee. You inspire me to love better.
I know. Me too. How did that happen? Why don’t we read blogs anymore the way we used to? I think I’m spending a lot of time reading stuff on FB, and that may be part of the problem, huh? It’s very loud over there, these days.
I can’t tell you how much your words mean to me. Thank you for speaking this blessing into my life, Diane. I will treasure this for a very long while.
I love you, too, Diane. So thankful God let us meet face-to-face.
Dear Deidra, I don’t know how long it took you to write this, but it is the best I’ve read regarding the Election of your future President. Because it’s not about who “wins” and who doesn’t, not in the end, anyway. And it’s not about who will eventually “bury” the other with the final insult. It’s about GOD, for HE is the one who places kings over their kingdoms, AND takes them down when need be. I, being Canadian, have watched much of what has been taking place. I have felt fear at what I perceive to be big trouble for your Country. And trouble for you means trouble for us. At times it has been overwhelming. But that is when I’ve had my eyes fully on the world situation, rather than on my God. You have realigned my thoughts and my heart today, drawing all focus back to the only One who knows today AND tomorrow. I hear people say, “All we can do is pray.” No, prayer is always our FIRST line of defense, for when we pray, He moves heaven & earth. HE is still in control. He is still calling us to trust. He has a plan. “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” I hear you saying, “Let the PEACE of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in ONE BODY, and be thankful.” Now more than ever, our voices must unite in prayer (across ALL divisions) and our “witness” be Love. Let our witness be Love.
I am thankful for your voice, Deidra, and your leadership. I’ll be keeping this post & re-reading it, like a good tonic, whenever my heart ails me.
“Let the PEACE of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in ONE BODY, and be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
Every day, the Bible app “sends me” a verse for the day. Yesterday, this one was the verse. I spent some time, reading the verse over and over again, so I’m really pleasantly surprised that you’ve shared it here. Yes, peace in our hearts helps us to see with more clarity, I think. And prayer is indeed our first defense. I think more and more people are remembering these things during this crazy season. Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Jillie. I appreciate you.
Amen and amen.
Amen.
Love is the reason God is both just and merciful. Love is the fulcrum. It is. Thank you for this. I appreciate it even though I haven’t said a lot as of late. I’ve been around, with Beth and others, taking everything in and praying. I’ve been out in the world for a couple weeks. It was a good reminder of how we are all more alike than we are different. I needed the perspective outside this bubble that can be my life. The “after” part of this essay reminds me of Hebrews 12 and the race we are running and what we need to lay aside to run well. We have come to Mt. Zion. He wants us to take hold of him, to touch him and then touch the world with his love. Jesus is for us and we need to be for others, less we trip and fall and cause others to fall with us. Thank you friend. Love you. I do.
Whew, I needed to read this today. Thank you, thank you so much for sharing. I need to pray like this since I have been bumbling around in prayer lately.
I love your new blog header by the way….fresh!!