![\"i-voted\"](\"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/i-voted-300x300.jpeg\")
Today is election day \u2013 and we voted. Like many of our friends, the experience left a knot in my stomach, without even knowing the results yet. I was going to say, “without knowing who won the race,” but I think it\u2019s been stated ad nauseaum through every means and venue possible that, whoever is elected, not many of us will feel like we are really \u201cwinning.\u201d Maybe Charlie Sheen\u2026I don\u2019t know\u2026 <\/p>\n
Anyway, we have been praying. Going through scripture to help us make sense of the state of our elections, country and world. A verse came to mind that doesn\u2019t actually directly fit the context of our current situation, but is more of a revealing statement about my own relationship with God and what he continues to teach ME about Himself. <\/p>\n
In John 6, Jesus had been teaching his disciples, in their words, \u201chard teachings.\u201d CRAZY stuff that they couldn\u2019t understand yet, like Jesus telling them about this bread that just comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They piped up and said, \u201cWell, we\u2019d like some of THAT bread.\u201d Jesus said, \u201cI AM THE BREAD OF LIFE.\u201d And they were all\u2026\u201dWhaaaatttt?\u201d I won\u2019t recount all of those teachings here, but go read it \u2013 it\u2019s good stuff.<\/p>\n
The verse that came to mind in that chapter is from Peter. It is an exasperation. It is something you say when you have that moment of clarity and desperation at the end of your rope and you realize that\u2026You. Are. Not. In. Control. Not even a little bit, in the grand scheme of things.<\/p>\n
Disciples were abandoning ship like crazy and Jesus asked the Twelve, \u201cYou do not want to leave too, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n
In verse 68 \u2013 “Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n
He says, \u201cLord, WHERE ARE WE GOING TO GO?\u201d That is the question I ask of God way too often for me to admit. Lord, what OTHER options do we have? Because honestly, Yours are HARD sometimes. We have tried putting our trust in ourselves, in our bank accounts, in possessions, in our friends, in our families, and yes \u2014 in our leaders. With Peter, I say that we have examined them all and they ALL eventually come up short. <\/p>\n
Peter was saying, \u201cI realize now that the answer to LIFE \u2013 this one and the next \u2013 is only found in You, Lord.\u201d Whether we come to this realization willingly or kicking and screaming, at times, He is asking me (and you), \u201cDo you TRUST ME?\u201d <\/p>\n
Do you trust Me with your relationships? with raising your kids? with loving your spouse? with your finances? with your job? <\/p>\n
DO YOU TRUST ME to use whomever you elect as the leader of your country for MY purposes? Do you think that is beyond My reach? Do you not remember how I pared down Gideon\u2019s army to THREE HUNDRED to defeat the vast Midianite army of thousands, just so they couldn\u2019t boast, \u201cMy own strength has saved me.\u201d (Judges 7:2)?<\/p>\n
So, maybe we don\u2019t have a candidate that many of us can get behind to say, \u201cOh, well, ________ is going to SAVE us now.\u201d It occurs to me that it wouldn\u2019t be ridiculous to think that \u2013 maybe that\u2019s by God\u2019s design and not just a sucky hand we seem to have been dealt. I don’t know for sure \u2014 those thoughts are way above my small human mind… <\/p>\n
I do know that, today, I pray, \u201cLord, we have nowhere else to go but You and I trust my life and my country to Your hands.\u201d Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is election day \u2013 and we voted. Like many of our friends, the experience left a knot in my stomach, without even knowing the results yet. I was going to say, “without knowing who won the race,” but I think it\u2019s been stated ad nauseaum through every means and venue possible that, whoever is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1275,"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1273\/revisions\/1275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/johnlocklair.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}