“The government will rest of his shoulders” Isaiah 9:6

Yesterday I stood in line to vote at our local polling place without Dan for the first time. It was another of those out of the blue realizations which makes the loss of a loved one so painful. Dan and I had voted together in the last 15 presidential elections, everyone from Lyndon Johnson through Reagan, the Bushes and Clintons and for me to the present President Elect. (I did not vote for Kennedy because I was not 21, New York’s then requirement to vote) What a privilege it has been for both of us then and for me now. For Dan and me voting is privilege and a righteous duty.

I did not watch the election results last night, did not fret about the results and fell asleep peacefully. I’ve learned to trust God in all things because I have seen how He works in this world, in my life, especially in this last season. Government and elections are nothing new. World leaders seeking power and control are nothing new. Political upheavals are as old as civilization. In fact Alexander the Great who defeated the Medes and Persians who defeated the Babylonians who conquered the Assyrians was himself defeated by the Romans. He who regretted that “he had nothing left to conquer” died at age 33, the same age as Jesus. But what a difference their lives represent! The former, who sought power, conquest and self glory is still only a footnote in history. Jesus who with humility, love and obedience saved the souls of men fills all human history. Who therefore, is the greatest conqueror?

I awoke this morning to the news of a new president, (well not exactly new…) and hopefully a drastic reversal from the moral cesspool this country bathes in. Will we have 21st century version of Alexander in the presidency or will Christians honestly invite God into the new administration?

There has been a clarion wake up call to Jesus’ Church to wake up out of our laziness and complacency and pay attention to the times. Many intercessors have cried desperately to God, like teenagers who’ve had a car wreck. Help us O Lord. Things are out of control. We need you to fix this mess we are in. We’ve sincerely prayed 2. Chronicles and the Psalms of repentance and I believe there are present day Abrahams who came before the Lord, asking “if there are ten righteous, will You relent and spare us.?” It seems, at least of this writing, that our God has heard our prayers to heal the land for a time. We are still on trial.
So now what? Be relieved? Thank God for Trump-Alexander? Even get smug and gloat that “God got our way?” ? Heaven forbid such mindsets. The votes cast yesterday are the first steps to bring about God’s kingdom, not expand the world’s.

I personally believe there is one immediate response for us who believe in Jesus – humble prayers of gratitude that God heard the faithful pray. I think of the story in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus responds to desperate cries of ten lepers who seek Jesus’s compassion and healing. As they obeyed His command to go to the priests, all were cleansed.

 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan. Luke 17:15

Jesus asked, “Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to praise God except this one, and a foreigner?” In one short story, Jesus shows His heart and reveals what we are to do when healing – be it physical, spiritual or worldy -comes: return to God, praise loudly, throw yourself down humbly at His feet and thank Him with all your heart.