My (Stan) PRAYER for AMERICA: "Heavenly Father, may our elected leaders work to solve our nation's many great problems without ANY consideration of whether it furthers their political career, satisfies the desires of some special interest constituency, or promotes an ideological agenda that will be harmful to the welfare of this great Republic so blessed by God. May their efforts be based on the best interests of this country and Biblical principles that honor You. May they prove to be of such courage and integrity as to make the hard but necessary decisions that need to be made if America is to remain strong for not just years but generations to come. May You strengthen the resolve and add to the list of those who represent us those who will, and in future elections remove all those who will not, for those who will not will prove to be either incompetent or treasonous and not deserving to serve America. And help each American to stay informed, discerning of what they hear their leaders say, and holding each one, especially those specifically representing them, accountable throughout their time in office, with calls, emails, faxes and letters; cause them to persevere in being faithful. I ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen."
- By John Stemberger, Florida Family Policy Council (actionalert@floridafamilyaction.org), Nov. 8, 2012 ("To help you think through and try to make sense of the disappointing [election]results, I would like to forward to you an article I wrote two years ago on winning and losing elections which so many of our supporters said they found very helpful.")
So your guy didn’t win the election? Maybe several of your candidates didn’t win. What about all of the time, money and effort you spent? What about the credibility of your personal support? Or what about the countless hours of volunteering, sending e-mails and talking to neighbors and friends? Are you discouraged? Disillusioned? Upset?
Well, at the risk of sounding insensitive, welcome to politics in a fallen world.
I was speaking at a conference in Jacksonville when a man raised his hand and told me he was greatly discouraged by all the insanity of where the country is going politically. He asked me what I could tell him to encourage him. While I can really sympathize with this man’s feelings, my response was straightforward. “Faithfulness is the goal.”
For the world, “winning” is not just the goal, it's everything. For the believer, faithfulness is the goal. Now don’t get me wrong. I want to win. And we will fight hard to win. In a sense, I have devoted my life to winning the battles we fight. But in God’s economy, the focus is not merely winning-- but on us being faithful to the end.
Do we stop proclaiming the Gospel or speaking truth in love because the world rejects the truth? Do we give up on evangelism because we are not “winning” and seeing results with unbelievers? Do we give up as parents because we are not seeing “results” in our children? No, we develop a holy resilience to failure and setbacks and press on in faithful obedience to any task that we are called to accomplish.
In politics, as with evangelism, God simply calls us to be faithful to the message and the task. The results are in His providential hands. When history is behind us, we rest in His sovereign plan. We do our best to promote the virtuous and expose evil and deception. We work hard to elect the most principled candidates. We steward our citizenship by educating ourselves and others and voting with the best possible information we can find. But once we have discharged our responsibility, we can be satisfied and feel God’s pleasure in the fact that we were simply faithful.
As for me and my house, we are done with the emotional ups and downs of the roller coaster of election wins and losses—super elated with a win or totally depressed with a loss. We are learning the discipline of just being content with the knowledge that we were faithful to have done everything within our influence to elect principled men and women that will stand for life, marriage, and family.
It is natural and normal to be disappointed with a defeat and overjoyed with a victory. I am not suggesting we deny the emotional responses that come with either winning or losing. What I am suggesting is that we not become emotional slaves to the circumstances one way or another but instead to sense God’s highest satisfaction in knowing that we were merely faithful to do our part-- irrespective of the outcome.
This understanding aligns us with an eternal perspective. It protects us from burn out and it gives us greater endurance and resilience. Most importantly it postures us to humble ourselves before the Creator of history itself to recognize that we can only see in part and know in part and that ultimately His ways are higher, deeper and wiser than our ways.
My favorite historical place to visit in Washington, D.C. is the Arlington National Cemetery. To walk quietly at the feet of over a quarter of a million gravestones representing American soldiers from the Civil War to Iraq can be a profound experience. Looking across what appears to be an endless sea of mostly young men and women who have died so that I might live with freedom, is a sobering if not a completely transforming experience. Suddenly, everything comes into perspective. In that moment, I recommit myself with greater tenacity and courage to what I am called to do and realize that any disappointment or discouragement I have experienced is merely light and momentary compared to those who have paid the ultimate price.
Mother Teresa spent her lifetime serving the poor and unborn in physical conditions which just seemed insurmountable. Yet her timeless admonition still gives fresh motivation today. She said, “We do nothing. God does everything. All glory must be returned to Him. God has not called me to be successful. He called me to be faithful." Would that we could all have this same steady and eternal perspective when we face the wins and losses of life.
[bold and italics emphasis mine]
A fallen world is free-fall. Beyond the disappointment, what remains must only be faith in the faithfulness of God. And, also, we must seriously question ourselves; what is the substance,content, and meaning of faithfulness for believers in such a time as this.
ReplyDeleteFaith calls me to join you in praying for this President and our congressional leaders. And like Abraham, we must endure hoping beyond hope that even this will pass and God's providence and grace will once again prevail and abide in the hearts of us all.