The Results Are Not Final

Psalm 107 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. ² Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary ³ And gathered from the lands, From the east and from the west, From the north and from the south… ⁸ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! ⁹ For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good…¹⁵ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men! …¹⁹ Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses. ²⁰ He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. ²¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men! ²² Let them also offer sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And tell of His works with joyful singing….²⁸ Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brought them out of their distresses. ²⁹ He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. ³⁰ Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven. ³¹ Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! ³² Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders…⁴¹  He sets the needy securely on high away from affliction, And makes his families like a flock. ⁴² The upright see it and are glad; But all unrighteousness shuts its mouth. ⁴³ Who is wise? Let him give heed to these things,

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

The election is over. Many people stayed awake through the night waiting of the results of the election, others went to bed and woke up or will wake up to find out what the results of one of the most divisive election seasons in our nation’s history would be. Obviously when sides are so divided there will be nearly as many who are unhappy and dissatisfied with the outcome as those who celebrate it.

I must admit that yesterday I thought more about what I would feel and what I would write if things had turned out differently. The main thing I can say, as I pondered the potential of what was the expected outcome and even now that I look forward with hope at the outcome we have seen, is while the election is over, there is a winning side and a losing side, the results of the election are not over. It is up to us as citizens of this nation to determine what the results of the election will be. Those results will be played out for the rest of this nation’s history.

If we can discern anything thing from the outcome of this election, it is that some people have indicated, through their vote, that they want less government and more individual freedom and liberty. My hope and my prayer is that those who voted that way will not step back now and allow things to return to the way they were. With individual freedom and liberty comes great individual responsibility. We the people are our selves responsible to begin to live as the nation our forefathers established. The nation was established saying: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.   Regardless of the color of a person’s skin, their ethnicity, their gender, their social standing or their background and beliefs, each citizen of this nation has those rights.

We need to no longer allow the forces that have tried to divide us to continue to do that.  Ephesians 6:12 says: our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.    We the people need to recognize that those who are different and those who believe differently than we do are not our enemy. Our primary enemy and our primary battle as a nation, is against the forces that try to divide us. In Mark 3:24-25, Jesus says:   If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.       We as a nation need to stop being divided against ourselves. We need to stop allowing the media and activists to divides us with their lies, their propaganda and their own self serving agendas.  We need to stop focusing on what separates us and begin to see what we have in common, what we can agree on, what things can unify us. The more we focus on the things that we disagree on, the greater the divide becomes. As we begin to look for and find and focus on the things we do agree on we become unified.

The election is over, but the results are not in. It is up to us now, as a nation and as individual citizens of this nation to determine what the results will be. Will the nation we leave for our children and our children’s children be the nation our parents and grandparents left for us? Will we be:   one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all?  The outcome of the election says that’s what people want. It’s up to us to make sure that is the result of our election.  

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit, may we as a people not squander the blessings You have given this nation, May we turn to You and not from You.   Amen