Scary Election?

I got an e-mail forward recently calling on people to pray for their country, for at least one minute per day, at 9:00 pm EST, or 8:00 CST, 7:00 Mountain, 6:00 Pacific. God, apparently, can create a universe, but still can't sort out the time zone thing. I'm all for praying for our country, and I'll be trying to do that, but probably at 8:05, simply because I'm a nonconformist. But one line of the e-mail really caught my eye: "This election is the scariest I remember in my lifetime." That made me stop and wonder, "What are they scared of?" 

Are they scared that large banks & other corporations are taking over the country, and buying out the politicians? Are they scared that we're approaching a tipping point, past which it will be nearly impossible to halt climate change? Are they scared one party might start an unnecessary war with the 80 million people of Iran, to "keep us safe"? Are they scared about efforts to disenfranchise voters in many states, or scared that Medicare might be replaced with a voucher system, or that food stamps will no longer be available to the hungry and destitute? Scared, perhaps, that at a time of record deficits and unconscionable debt being left to our children and grandchildren, we're going to cut taxes yet again for the richest among us? Maybe they're scared that we're going to "teach the controversy" in public schools, and tell our young aspiring scientists that "God did it" is an acceptable alternative to working hard to find out *how* he did it, or go further down the road of teaching students to take tests instead of teaching students to think. 

Personally, I'm a little worried about the fear and hatred we have toward Muslims, America's rapidly vanishing middle class, and the risk that we could become the second country in modern history to build a fence across our border, following Berlin. I'm concerned that the political discourse in our nation, can revolve around dishonesty, claims of socialism, and demands to see a birth certificate instead of discussing the issues that face us. And I'm frankly disconcerted that our country holds 25% of the world's prisoners, that the best predictor of whether a murderer receives the death penalty is the race of the victim, and that many of the people most likely to pray for our country are going to cast their vote, not based on these issues, but based on a 40 year old debate about abortion that shows no signs of being settled. 

But I wouldn't say that I'm scared. Why? Because God is in control. In Job 42:2, after all the horrible things that befell him, Job said, "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted." Isaiah 41:10 clearly says we don't need to be afraid: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God." God is with us, and because of that, we don't need to be afraid. He's with us today, and He'll be with us the day after the election. He's God today, He'll be God the day after the election. He can do all things today, and He can do all things the day after the election. 

So, even though politics in our country is really screwed up, and even if you believe it's really screwed up *completely differently* than I do, there's no reason for elections to be scary. If you find yourself scared about the future, about what can happen if the "other side" wins, remember Psalm 46:1-2 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea". It could be a lot worse; mountains could be falling into the sea, but we still wouldn't need to fear. We can be still (46:10) because we know He is God.