The din of this election season is a perfect recipe for us to get it wrong. A multitude of messages are hurtled daily at us to believe and they may not be what God is saying at all.
Admittedly, it's hard to reach the transcendent place where God rules because his royal diadem is neither owned by Democrats nor Republicans and his heavenly decrees are just, while humans mangle authority with biased, unfair, short-sighted, and calamitous leadership.
Hungry for discernment, one congregation in the Dallas-Fort Worth area has asked its church members to fast 40 days about the upcoming presidential vote. I know of other people who are weary of the election noise and are fasting in another way -- by changing the channel.
The fact is, this election will require wisdom like no other. We must pray that we do not call evil good or good evil. We must refuse to judge by appearances, but request God's perspective of what is righteously meaningful to him. We must look at circumstances with the vision of the Spirit.
And that's not easy. It is a battle to heed the voice of wisdom when the boisterous cry of deception hounds us day and night. If we want God's word on a matter, we must lay down our own opinion. The mighty current of God's way of thinking about things, doing things, and accomplishing things -- requires more than bumper stickers, political baiting , fire-breathing sermons or a CNN, MSNBC, and Fox media moment.
It's been my experience that God often tunnels through the dark with the light of his power to upend things to his satisfaction and our fulfillment. The process may not be pretty, and chaos may seem to reign, but the outcome is always marvelous in our eyes.
Always.
Judy Howard Ellis
