Election seasons are like a roller coaster. As the poll numbers fluctuate up and down, so too do your emotions. Yesterday you were confident; today you’re feeling anxious. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Corkscrews, loop-the-loops, and precipitous drops—all perfect descriptions of your emotions throughout this season.
Election seasons are like a wildfire: unpredictable, consuming the time, energy, and resources of everyone near them, and potentially devastating. As you listen to the news about the campaigns, your heart aches, your hopes sink, and your anxiety skyrockets.
Election seasons are like a newborn baby, demanding your attention every hour of the day. Just when you think it will sleep and let you have some rest, another headline comes your way, and you’re both awake for the duration.
Every four years we endure the up and down, life-sucking, energy-zapping maelstrom of a presidential election. If we’re not careful, our hearts can be swept away by the polls, debates, interviews, rallies, and stump speeches. This year, whether you’re voting for your favorite political figure, the “lesser of two evils,” or a write-in candidate, you must tether your heart to something more reliable and stalwart than election returns and the endless pontificating of political pundits.You need to anchor your heart to the steadfast, immovable character of the Almighty. Psalm 46 can help you do just that.
God Is Your Refuge
Our hearts tend to roil with anxiety and overflow into anger over elections because of fear. What will happen if ____________ gets elected? we wonder. I just don’t know if the country will be able to recover. On the other hand, if the candidate we voted for wins, we think we’ve dodged the bullet and can rest easy for another three years until we have to do it all over again. But this is faulty-refuge thinking. No candidate or president can possibly take on the responsibility of being your safe haven. Only one Person has broad enough shoulders for that.
Psalm 46 opens with a bold declaration: “God is our refuge and strength.”
That statement needs no conditions or qualifiers; its truth stands alone. It’s true today, it will be true on election day, and the day after. Friend, no matter what transpires on November 5, God will still be your refuge. You can run to Him and be safe. He will shelter you in the middle of the storm; He will bring you through the valley; He is with you in the furnace. Place your hope in Him and Him alone.
By all means, vote. But don’t seek asylum in the outcome of the election. Elections are important and carry weighty consequences that can influence generations; but they will never hold up as a refuge.
God Is with You
Some things seem easier with a certain someone or something by your side. Staying alone in the house is much easier when the dog is with you. Going to a funeral for a loved one isn’t quite so daunting with your spouse or children at your side. Camping in the grizzly-bear-infested woods loses a little of its edge with a can of bear spray in the tent.
I think the disciples could relate. Imagine their faces when they learned that their beloved Master wouldn’t be around much longer. In His Upper Room Discourse, Jesus breaks the news to the eleven, and it’s pretty clear from the context that they didn’t take it very well (see John 16:5). But He makes them this precious promise: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18 ESV). Though the physical presence of Jesus would depart the earth, He would not leave His followers to fend for themselves. The last words He spoke to them as He ascended were a promise of His continued presence: “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20 NASB1995).
As disheartened and troubled as they must have been in the upper room, these eleven disciples did a quick 180° when they experienced the promised presence of God. After Pentecost, not one of them was ever the same. No barrier or obstacle would keep them from proclaiming the name of Jesus.
Our God is a very present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1 NASB1995). He is with you. He will never leave you—even if the election swings in a direction you don’t care for. He will be by your side telling you, “Do not fear, for I am with you” (Isa. 41:10). Let the nearness of God be your good (Psalm 73:28). We need not fear any evil that might come our way, for our Good Shepherd is with us (Psalm 23:1, 4).
God’s Power Is Unparalleled
My five-year-old son likes to play a simple game with me at bedtime. It’s called “What’s Bigger?” It goes something like this:
Me: What’s bigger? A caterpillar or a mouse?
Him: A mouse.
Me: What’s bigger? A goldfish or a dolphin?
Him: A dolphin.
We continue like this until I ask him, "What's bigger than God?" And he tells me, “Nothing!” I finish by reminding him that this great-big God is with him, so he doesn’t need to fear.
Simple. Child’s play. But important.
The nations made an uproar, the kingdoms tottered; He raised His voice, the earth melted. (Psalm 46:6 NASB1995)
Many headline-making events have caused nations to rage and kingdoms to totter: wars, pandemics, assassination attempts, riots, terrorist attacks, and school shootings. Any one of these things seemingly wields the power to bring a nation to its knees. But, in their wake, the kingdoms of the world continue on their basic course. However, when El Shaddai, the Lord Almighty, raises His voice, the whole earth melts. This poetic language leads us to one very important conclusion: nothing can touch God’s power. Or, in the language I use with my son, God is bigger.
No matter how the nations might rage around us, no matter how high the waves might be or how terrifying the storm may seem, nothing can quash, squelch, or quench the power of God. The hymn writer got it right:
Be still, my soul, the waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.1
He Will Be Exalted
January 20, 2025, will come with much pomp and circumstance. The victor of this tumultuous election will stand before a huge crowd, place one hand on the Bible, and vow to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America to the best of his or her ability. In other words, either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be exalted and sworn in as arguably the most powerful person in the world.
But that exaltation will be temporary.
My husband and I recently watched Reagan, which chronicles the political life and triumphs of the fortieth president of the United States. However, the movie doesn’t end with Reagan’s climactic speech imploring Mr. Gorbachev to tear down his wall. Instead, it ends with the physical and mental decline and ultimate passing away of this political giant. Although he was exalted, his exaltation was temporary. It was true for Reagan and every leader before him, and will be no different for any leader that has come after.
Such is not the case with our God. Though men may now refuse to bow before Him, He will be exalted among the nations. One day, “every knee will bow . . . and every tongue will confess” His glory (Phil. 2:10–11). Not one created thing will deny Him on that day, nor will they ever reject Him again.
Take comfort. God wins.
If you’re anxious today about the election, or perhaps about something else, anchor your heart to the character of God. Meditate on Psalm 46, and be still. He is God.
God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found in times of trouble.
Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,
though its water roars and foams
and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Selah
There is a river—its streams delight the city of God,
the holy dwelling place of the Most High.
God is within her; she will not be toppled.
God will help her when the morning dawns.
Nations rage, kingdoms topple;
the earth melts when he lifts his voice.
The LORD of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah
Come, see the works of the LORD,
who brings devastation on the earth.
He makes wars cease throughout the earth.
He shatters bows and cuts spears to pieces;
he sets wagons ablaze.
“Stop fighting, and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”
The LORD of Armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah
1 Lyrics from “Be Still My Soul” by Kathrina Von Schlegel.
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