The Blazing Center

In approximately three months Americans will determine the next President of the United States. This can be a worrisome time for people, myself included, because there’s a lot riding on this election. And the commercials certainly don’t help. Most of them are narrated by a man with a deep, imposing voice, and go something like this:

Are you aware that John McCain/Barack Obama voted to give hand guns to children under the age of five? And he proposes that all senior citizens should be put to hard labor in central Kansas. Is this the kind of man you want for President? That’s why John McCain/Barack Obama is the right choice.

The man who sits in the Oval Office next year will make decisions that affect the economy, gas prices, and most importantly (in my mind), the abortion debate. I deeply desire to see abortion come to an end in this country, and the thought of a President who sanctions abortion both saddens and worries me.

But recently I’ve found comfort in the book of Ezra. Ezra tells the story of exiled Israelites returning to their homeland and rebuilding the temple of God. The thing that’s so astonishing about the story is that the exiled people didn’t secure their freedom through violent uprising or cunning politics. Rather, the Persian king Cyrus willfully set them free. Why would Cyrus do such a thing? Listen to the words of Ezra:

Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king, to beautify the house of the LORD that is in Jerusalem… (Ezra 7:27)

God himself stirred the heart of Cyrus to free the Israelites. God rules over the hearts of kings and presidents, and he steers them whichever way he chooses. Our glorious God will accomplish his good, sovereign plans no matter who rules the country.

So on November 4th, I’ll pray and I’ll vote, but by God’s grace, I won’t worry. In one sense, it matters very much who is elected. But in another, much bigger sense, it doesn’t matter at all. God will accomplish his plans, and neither John McCain nor Barack Obama can stop him.

+photo by JOE M500