Pray and Vote

Posted on October 9, 2012

Perhaps there will never be such a pivotal moment in America’s political history, as when Americans go to the polls in November.

There has been much debate over political agendas, who can deliver what he promises, who has broken promises and which candidate will lead the nation into a better future. The stakes are high, and from a Christian standpoint, the spiritual future of America is particularly in the balance. The anti-God, pro-homosexual ,and pro-abortion stance of our present government leads Christians to be alarmed as they see dark clouds looming.

How do we as Christians react? There are three options:

1.  DespairWe mourn over everything that is bad, and fail to see anything that is good. Going through the Book of Judges lately with my girls I was struck as never before with the verse emphasized four times at the end of the book:

In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes (Judges 21:25).

What a seeming epitaph over a nation that once terrified the surrounding nations, as they forged ahead to inherit the land of Canaan with God as their king. Chaos, idolatry, murder, disregard for life. No leader, no law and order, no national defence, vulnerable, perishing. God had given them what they had wanted and the result was catastrophic.

Contrast that with what we have today. We have a president, we have democracy, we have doctors and nurses, we have law and order, and we have an organized military. God has not totally forgotten us, nor given us over to anarchy, yet. Above all, we have the widespread preaching of the Gospel and freedom to worship. How wrong then to see our great national blessings as a small thing and not worth much.

Perhaps the main reason is that we tend to look to man as the solution to our problems. Somehow, you may think if we get Romney as president then there will be a bright future, we can stop despairing, and stop praying, because we now have the answer. Perhaps you think if President Obama gets back in, all is lost and Christ’s kingdom in America is lost too.

Many Christians trust God with their souls but trust their national future to the political process. Yes, there is great evil too, but let us not add to our national sins by failing to see God’s great blessings yet in our land and putting too much hope in human beings. Pour out your soul before the Lord and cast your vote. Remember, the whole purpose of this world’s ongoing existence is the gathering in of Christ’s kingdom, and no power on earth will stop that.

2. Bury your head in the sand
Some believers see themselves as not only NOT of the world but barely in it either. They do not want to be tarnished by having anything to do with the political process and view the use of voting privilege as somehow lacking faith in God. Only He will change the nation and politics is for the ungodly. Or, if they ever do vote, it will only be when a true believer is standing for presidency.

Apparently, 30% of Evangelical Christians in America will not vote in the election.

Throughout the ages, God has used means to fulfil His plan. He used Cyrus to free Judah from captivity, so that the Savior would yet come, He used the Egyptians with their papyrus and writing skills to teach Moses how to write the Pentateuch. He used the Romans with their engineering skills to create a road infrastructure throughout the known world, so that the Word of God would be spread effectively.

He raised up Winston Churchill to lead Britain at a time when no one else had the wisdom or courage to do it. Similarly, He raised up men like George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower. Although they had a regard for the Word of God and His statutes, we don’t know for sure if any of these men were believers in Christ.

God, throughout the Bible, teaches us to honor those whom He has appointed over us. God uses the blessings of democracy to further his Kingdom. If we will not vote for anyone but a true believer, then we may very well thereby be the means by which increasingly ungodly leaders get into power.

As an elderly gentleman said in one of our prayer meetings recently, “Our God is a practical God.” And so He is. He gives us talents and opportunities and expects us to use them. We can stand back and refuse to get involved, like the one talent man who buried it in the ground, or we can prayerfully take this talent of a vote and put it to good use. We are not of the world but we are definitely in it and have a duty to engage with it for the good of Christ’s kingdom.

3.Pray, vote, and trust the LordAs a Scot, living in America, I see America sliding towards the same spiritual morass as the UK, but there is a great difference; many more true believers who are praying and whose vote, in the hand of God, can change the nation for good. So, will you use that God given privilege and ask God’s blessing on your vote, or will you congratulate yourself for not taking an active part in your nation’s future, because you are a Christian who is NOT involved in the world.

We must pray and call upon God, who alone can change the hearts of a people, but He uses means and He uses people. Are you one of them? Or will you have to tell your grandchildren that evil prospered and the nation sank into the abyss, because you prayed, yes, but refused to act. Remember, as Edmund Burke once said:

All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

taken from Shona at http://www.notsocommonsenseblog.com/