The Election

Today, I am going to dive into something totally different for this blog: politics. As a Stage IV lung cancer survivor with a rare mutation that does not respond well to standard chemotherapies and whose healthcare, available treatments, and life may very well depend on the decisions made by our elected leadership, I feel I am entitled to state my beliefs, and I will probably offend many people by the time I am done.

If you have read much of my blog, you should know that I believe the Bible from the Table of Contents all the way to the maps section. I am not the kind of person who can partition his beliefs and only hold them when it fits my purposes. My beliefs are the foundation that my life is built on and the mortar that holds my life together.

In the New Testament, we are taught that God raises up and brings down leaders. They are placed in their positions by God, and I guess you could say that they are divinely appointed. God is not surprised by who wins and loses elections. He has appointed these leaders for this time and place. We may not be happy with it, but we need to accept that this is God's plan, and He continues to be in control. We are to pray for our leaders and that they will do God's will in leading our country.

Now, I also enjoy the Old Testament. There are some great truths to be learned there and many a lesson can be learned from the Israelites and their relationship with God. Throughout the Old Testament, God instructed them how to live and worship Him. As long as they sought and honored God, their nation thrived, and they were prosperous as a nation and as individuals. However, they just never seemed to be able to pass those beliefs from generation to generation. When a new generation would turn its back on God and begin to chase other idols and worship other gods, God would divinely send some method of discipline. Often times, the discipline would come by way of a conquering king or sometimes even a misguided king from within. Often times these kings would enslave the people or oppress them with excessive taxes. This would continue until a prophet or new king would re-introduce the people to the ways of God. Even though God appointed all of the leaders, it was never all good leadership but always for the Israelites' eventual benefit. God never stopped loving them and guiding them. It was up to them to decide when to follow him.

I am going to leave it up to you to draw your own conclusions about where we are as a nation.