Thoughts on an Election

Tomorrow we go to the polls to vote for, among other things, the next President of the United States. I am always amazed at just how involved and passionate people can get over politics. If only they were that passionate over their relationship with God. But, that is not what I am writing about. Or is it?

600 years before Jesus walked on the planet, a king named Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon. He was perhaps one of the greatest monarchs in the history of the world. Some would argue the greatest monarch. The city he built is almost difficult for us to understand. It was so great, that its hanging gardens, hanging hundreds of feet in the air, were one of the seven wonders of the world.

In Daniel chapter 4, he has a dream that rocked his world. The long and the short of it, is that he had become so prideful in his kingdom and his accomplishments, that God decided to humble him. Actually, I believe King Nebuchadnezzar came to believe in the one true God, and this event played significantly into that. I will not write the content of the dream, you can read it, but here is what the prophet Daniel told him when he was finally asked what was to take place.

"This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes."

Uh, yeah. God grants power to whomever he wishes. Tuesday evening, when the votes are tallied, I will remind myself that God gives power to whomever he wishes.

Sunday evening I heard a Scottish preacher say, we should remember that Jesus is indeed king. He is not elected. He does not bow to the United States, or Scotland, or Britain, or any other nation. He did not attend the Republican convention. He did not attend the Democratic one either. He is not on the side or Obama, or McCain, or Palin, or Biden. We do not vote for His power. We do not decide if He is in charge. We do not tell Him who He will allow into his kingdom. We do not tell him who He can forgive or accept or love or support. We simply are invited to join Him.

I do not know how this election will turn out. I will go vote tomorrow morning. I will be thrilled to do so. It is my privilege. It is my right. But I WILL NOT be so invested in this that I will be taken back, or bothered, or concerned, no matter who wins. And this is from a guy, who at the age of eighteen, had a ten step plan to BE president of the United States.

On the eve of an election that will determine the leader of what is arguably the most powerful nation on earth, would it not be good to be reminded that "the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes?"