It's Election Day

Ok, so I know you're all thinking "this bozo is a day late and two pennies short of making cents because the election was yesterday". So we know now that George Bush has won another 4-year term as the President of the United States and we are all relieved that it didn't take three weeks of chaos to figure it out this time (saving our country from looking like a disorganized jumble of confused bickerers at least). But we're far from having unified support behind the president, which isn't all that surprising considering how close the race has been for the last few months because so many people just wanted to see someone besides Bush in the White House. Honestly, I can't say that I blame anyone for their dissatisfaction; I mean, if I had it my way, we would have had a candidate to vote for who communicates exactly what he's going to do and follows through with it, somebody who always makes the right decisions and leads the nation the right way, someone who builds up the economy and lowers taxes. I mean, wouldn't that be awesome? O wait... reality check, all men are fallible and are going to make mistakes. I wasn't thrilled about either candidate because I knew neither one of them was perfect and there are probably a lot of other people that could lead the country just as well but I voted for Bush because he's not afraid to give due credit to the God who is in true control over this nation. Honestly, I knew that life would go on no matter who won the election because I knew God had already ordained who was supposed to lead America for the next four years whether or not that meant he was the best person or the best leader. Bush may not be the best communicator and he may not always make the right decisions, but he is the man that God in His sovereignty has chosen to lead(whatever that may entail) this country for the next four years. That brings me to another point: however long four years may seem to us right now, it really is a very short breath of time in comparison to eternity. In another four years, we will elect another President and then four years after that, we'll repeat the whole process again and this election will be in the distant past. A presidential term is temporal at best, far from a life and death matter for anyone, so why do we treat it as such? I was actually fairly amused when I started thinking about the connotations of "winning" the election; it's almost like it's a sport on a much higher scale than the Super Bowl in that it actually makes a small difference in our future. But however big an impact this next four years will have on us is nothing in comparison to eternity. "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18). The leader that we can see (the President) is so insignificant when compared to the leader we can't see. In fact, any power that our current President has at his command is derived from the President of Presidents (a.k.a. The King of Kings), even the power to draw breath in order to live. Isn't it comforting to at least think (if not know, but I'm not gonna put words in your mouth) that an imperfect Bush is answerable to a perfect higher Authority for the actions that he chooses to take as President of the U.S., and that while Bush may be in limited control, there is One who is in ultimate control over all including Bush?

Alright, my brain is about 99.8% spent at this point so I will begin to wrap up my rambling ways. Whether we have a good authorities or a bad authorities, we can still pray for them either way. We are, in fact, encouraged to pray for all who are in authority, and our desire should be that our authorities will seek guidance in making the correct decisions. Why wouldn't we want our leaders to make the right decisions? I don't see a problem with having a selfish agenda here, we should want and pray for our authorities to make the right decisions. I'll leave you (my future self in other words) with a verse to contemplate. Any of my fellow counselors out there shouldn't have too much trouble recognizing it=)

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
--1 Timothy 2:1-2