No matter which side wins in November, half the country will be euphoric and the other half in the doldrums. I’ve experienced both sides of the spectrum, and in both cases, I’m convicted because I expect the next government official to solve all our problems. I put my hope in the wrong person.
As I’ve camped out in the book of Daniel this past month, I noticed how Daniel brilliantly handled these transitional rollercoasters or power shifts. He lived and served in a culture hostile to the things of God. He confronted indoctrination, death threats, and an insane king. Yet through it all, he daily talked to God. He reminded himself and the kings he served who God was. In the midst of this counter culture, he remained faithful as a servant to the kings and his God.
Not only did Daniel leave us a prayer to pattern after, but Isaiah, David, Jeremiah, and Paul left us plentiful scriptures to soothe our souls in this unsettling season.
When you wonder who is in control.
May the name of God
be praised forever and ever,
for wisdom and power belong to Him.
He changes the times and season;
He removes kings and establishes kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.
He reveals the deep and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with Him.
Daniel 2:20-22 (HCSB)
When you wonder who is in charge.
He is the image of the invisible God,
The firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by Him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible,
whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—
all things have been created through Him and for Him.
He is before all things,
and by Him, all things hold together.
He is also the head of the body, the church;
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that He might come to have
first place in everything.
Colossians 1:15-18 (HCSB)
When you wonder who you should serve.
For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.
The depths of the earth are in His hand,
and the mountain peaks are His.
The sea is His; He made it.
His hand formed the dry land.
Come let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.
For He is our God,
and we are the people of His pasture,
the sheep under His care.
Psalm 95:3-7 (HCSB)
When you have doubts about God.
This is what the LORD, the King of Israel and its Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts, says:
I am the first, and I am the last.
There is no God but Me.
Who, like Me, can announce the future?
Let him say so and make a case before Me
since I have established an ancient people.
Let these gods declare the coming things
and what will take place.
Do not be startled or afraid.
Have I not told you and declared it long ago?
You are my witnesses!
Is there any God but Me?
There is no other Rock;
I do not know any.
Isaiah 44:6-8 (HCSB)
When you think no one can fix our problems.
Oh, Lord God! You yourself made the heavens and earth by your great power and with our outstretched hand. Nothing is too difficult for You!
Jeremiah 32:17 (CSB)
How are you doing during this unprecedented season?