Trusting God's Sovereignty Amid Political Uncertainty

1. "As we approach this election, it's easy to place our hope in what happens at the polls. But the truth is, our hope is not meant to be placed on what happens in elections, what those outcomes might be. That doesn't mean that we don't participate. In fact, most of us that are in here participate in government, participate with elected officials. Most of us in here have some kind of overlap in our life, whether in our careers or with family members who have careers, who are deeply involved with what happens in Washington DC. We are a suburb of Washington CC." ([00:45:53] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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2. "And so for a lot of us, we have a life that's participating in what's going on in the world around us, what's going on in DC. And so for a lot of us, we may work for specific candidates. We may work for red candidates, we may work for blue candidates, we may work for conservative ideas or others. And so on and so forth. That's all that matters. It's a matter of what you can We may work for liberal ideas. We may work for everything in between. But the reality is, and the question is, when things don't go our way, how are we going to respond?" ([00:46:36] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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3. "When we look at the world around us right now, what's going on, you know, if you live in Pennsylvania or if you live in North Carolina or one of these states that have a lot of implications on who's going to be elected, I can't even imagine being in that location right now. Constant bombardment of, you know, of the different candidates, the different ideas. But the question is, how are we going to respond on Wednesday when things don't go the way that we would like them to go, whether you're a red candidate or a blue candidate?" ([00:47:28] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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4. "As we look across the nation, there are going to be people who wake up on Wednesday morning with a sense of relief or a sense of grief, right? There are going to be people who feel like what happens on Tuesday night is going to have implications that are going to be catastrophic to the world, to our nation, to us personally, or are going to feel a sense of adulation and excitement, thinking that what's going to happen on Tuesday is going to be the answer to all of our problems. I'm going to tell you what, I've been living here for quite a while now, you know, I'm in that 50 range, won't get specific, I'm in that 50 range, and you know what? My whole life. I've heard the same thing, that whoever wins, you know, if the wrong person wins, it's going to be catastrophic. And if the right person wins, then everything's going to be perfect and the world's answers will be solved. And the reality is, is that come Wednesday, what happens?" ([00:47:59] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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5. "All of a sudden, everything gears up, telling us the same exact thing, gearing up for the next four years. I mean, it's not, you know, we think that, we think that Christmas in October during Halloween is bad, but when it comes to the election cycle, sometimes it starts the day after the election. You know, and I really feel sad about that. I really feel burdened by the fact that, you know, there are a lot of people have a lot of vested interest in having us as a nation divided and against each other, and the reality is that is not what God has called us to." ([00:49:22] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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6. "We have to be very careful not to place our trust in God. We have to place our hope and our trust in what happens on Wednesday, what happens on Tuesday and the outcome on Wednesday. You know, we talk about people who have a sense of grief or a sense of relief, but the reality is, is that either way, if we walk away with such a burden of anxiety or depression, you've heard about that, elections have caused people to go into severe depression." ([00:49:60] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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7. "If we're, if we're so invested on that. If we're so invested on that level as brothers and sisters in Christ, as followers of Jesus, we really have to examine who we are and where we are, because here's the reality about anxiety. Dallas Willard, who is a highly influential Christian philosopher, he is a professor at University of Southern California, a deeply committed Christian. This is what he says about anxiety. He says that anxiety is fundamentally a matter of what we place our heart upon." ([00:50:29] (32 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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8. "What he's getting at is that. He says that if we place our hearts on the wrong things, then yes, we will begin to feel anxious. When we put our hearts on things that are outside of our control, we're going to get anxious if we're placing them on the wrong thing. There are a lot of things in this world that we cannot control. I mean, the reality is, is that most of us, the most influential thing that we're going to come, that we're going to be able to do when it comes to Tuesday is vote. And then we have to wait another four years to vote. That's the only thing." ([00:50:21] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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9. "thing that we can really do. Yet, for many people in our nation, they sit in anxiety for four years hoping that that next election will turn out the right way, and then they go for another season of anxiety. The problem is, is that we put our hope and our trust in the wrong things. Now, don't hear what I'm not saying. We all, as I mentioned, most of us in here have a vested interest in what's going on in Washington." ([00:51:36] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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10. "Most of us work in some level with what's going on in Washington, and I'm not saying that we don't participate. In fact, I strongly encourage that. I believe that God uses secondary means and ordinary causes to produce his sovereign will, and what I mean by that is that God could instantly snap his fingers and choose for things to turn out a certain way, but he doesn't do that. He includes humanity in the world. In the process of seeing through to his will. He does that on a national level. He does that through our families. He does that in evangelism. You see, God could snap his fingers and have people turn their hearts to him just like that, but he doesn't do that. He says that you only come to faith through hearing of the word, and if there's nobody to speak the word, how can we hear? Right? So he uses humanity to see his will come to pass, and it's the same thing when it comes to things like that. Things like elections." ([00:52:19] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


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