In God We Trust

Today is the day.

After months of political back-and-forth, of campaign ad bombardments, of incessant chatter on television and social media, Election Day 2016 has finally arrived. Either late today or early tomorrow we should know who will be the 45^th President of the United States.

The day is significant for us. It certainly interests us as citizens of this country. But more importantly, it interests us as citizens of the better country, that is, an heavenly. Over the last eight years we have witnessed tremendous changes in this country that have affected the church, and this election will provide us with a general sense of what we can expect as believers in the next four years.

As we evaluate the situation soberly, we are tempted to be discouraged. We are tempted to be anxious and fearful for the future of the church and the future of our children and grandchildren.

The two main candidates for President both rage against the Lord and against his Word. One candidate shamelessly promotes the wickedness of homosexuality and transgenderism and the murder of unborn babies by abortion. The other candidate is pompous, egotistical, and a shameless adulterer living with his third wife. Those whose conscience before God will permit them to vote today do so without a shred of enthusiasm.

The candidates are reflective of the wickedness of the nation as a whole. The comment is frequently made, “Out of all the people in this country, is this the best that we can do?” God is giving to this country the ungodly rulers it deserves for her wickedness. The word of God in Hosea 13:11 is true today: “I gave thee a king in mine anger.” The United States is not a Christian nation, as it once claimed to be. The nation is consciously throwing off anything that relates to genuine Christianity and the Word of God. What we are seeing more and more is the spirit of this country being controlled by the spirit of the Antichrist.

This can only mean difficult days for the church. Depending on the one elected, the hard times may come soon or they may be delayed a bit. But there can be no doubt that those days are looming on the horizon. The days of relative earthly ease for the church are fast coming to an end, and increasingly the nation is raging against Christ and his church.

What are we as Christians to think as we stand in line to vote, as we sit around the computer monitor awaiting the results, as we go about our callings in the next days and weeks?

Remember, Christ is King! In Psalm 2:6, after describing the raging of the heathen, God says, “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” That King is the risen and exalted Lord Jesus who rules over all things, both great and small, upon the earth. And he does so for his Zion, his church.

Our confidence is that King Jesus rules today over the election. What determines the outcome of the election is not the candidates and their campaign staff, not the Democratic or Republican parties, not even the American people. The King of kings governs this country and this election, and he will be the one to determine sovereignly who will occupy the oval office for the next four years.

King Jesus will rule over this election guided by the eternal counsel of God. His determining of the next President will serve the grand purpose of God in leading all things to the goal of his glory in his second coming, the judgment of the ungodly, and the salvation of the church.

Our trust is in God and in his Anointed. Our faith is not in the American people, a certain political party, a particular candidate, or even in democracy generally. Our confidence today and every day that follows hereafter is in God alone.

This will have a powerful effect on us. It will prevent us from unwarranted excitement if the election turns out the way we hope, as if this is our salvation. It will also keep us from discouragement should the election go the way that we don’t want, as if there has been some mistake on God’s part. It gives us a peace and calm with regard to the election and the future.

Fear not, little flock!

Christ is King today!

The world might say it in mock piety, but we mean it, today and forever: In God we trust!

______________

This post was written by Rev. Joshua Engelsma, pastor of Doon Protestant Reformed Church in Doon, Iowa.