November the 9th has come and gone, many are extremely happy at the outcome of who the next President of the United States will be, yet so many are afraid for what comes next. At this point, we have all seen the news, we have all read the hundreds of Facebook posts and comments, and we have all heard every opinion there is to hear of this election as we walk down the sidewalk. This election was a big deal, and still is a huge deal for so many Americans who are terrified, or extremely excited for what the future holds for the United States.
I don't like talking about politics. I've never been huge on keeping up with candidates, and I didn't do too well in my high school government class, but something about this year's election has everyone talking. To be compleately honest and transparent, it was very hard to get out of bed on Wednesday morning. My heart dropped, something many of us never thought would happen, actually happened. I was very upset reading what my fearful friends had posted on Facebook, and all of a sudden, I couldn't see a future. I was very angry on Wednesday, and every single tweet and Facebook post, no matter the side, was fueling that anger. Friends were turning against friends, loving people were spewing out hatred on social media, internal flames were being started. I watched my friend's Snap Chat videos about the riots in Austin, New York, and Dallas, I was scared.
This post isn't about my side of the political warfare, and who I think would've been a better president, but it's simply about what God has shared with me these past few days of chaos.
On Wednesday nights, I lead a group of first grade kids at a local church. My friend and I usually get there early so we can take a few moments to study our lesson, to make sure everything is in order for our kids, and to pray. It just so happened that this particular Wednesday night we were discussing honor. We read the story of David becoming king in 1 Samuel 16. God told Samuel to find a king, and Samuel was thinking of someone tall, strong, and fit to become the king, someone that David didn't quite fit the role of being. But, when God chose David instead of his handsome, tall brothers, Samuel honored him anyway, and anointed David as king. Our bottom line for the day was "Honor others by giving them a chance". I didn't have to read it twice to understand who God was actually talking to: me. Despite his voice shining through the lesson, I ignored him, I was stubborn. I was angry at the situation, and I wanted to remain that way.
Less than an hour later, I was sitting in a room with our college ministry as God continued to speak to me. "Sarah, who do you think is actually in charge here?", the thought entered my mind as we sang, "Sing to Jesus, his is the throne, now and forever, he is the King of Heaven, Sing to Jesus we are his own". As we read God's reply to Job,"Have you ever given orders to the morning,or shown the dawn its place, have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?" (Job 38:12 & 16), I heard him saying, "Who's in charge of the universe? Who's in charge of every sunrise and sunset, of every breath of air, of every heart beat? I will always be in control, I am the King of the universe. The sun still rises, the world still spins, have hope." His words are not the words I wanted to hear, but the ones I needed to remember.
God is in charge, always. In the long run, it doesn't matter who is elected president, or who the new boss is at work, or whatever the situation, because in the end, the only thing that truly matters is the one who controls it all: God.
At the end of every worship service at my church, we hold hands, we come together and we praise God for how wonderful he is. In those moments, none of us are wondering if the person to the right of us is a Republican, or the person to the left of us is a Hillary supporter, we stand hand in hand, shoulder to shoulder, and give everything we have to the God of the universe. Despite our differences, we come together as one to worship him. So lets remember who's actually in charge here. We don't have to see eye to eye to stand shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand to love our neighbors, to protect the ones that need protecting, to care for the ones that need caring, and to worship the one that deserves our worshiping. Lets change our tweets and Facebook posts into encouraging words, and remember that the ones in charge of this country are no match for the one that's in charge of everything. Lets watch the sunrise to a new day, stand hand in hand with our neighbors and our enemies, and have hope, because the best days are still to come.
