We awoke to uncertainty, and I find myself wrestling with uncertainty, control, and the election.
There is a part of me that wants to say, “God is in control,” as if I can assure myself that nothing bad will happen in our nation, or that this is all happening exactly the way God wants.
But then I find myself returning to the simple statement that God is love, and as powerful as love is, and as much as I believe God is sovereign over time and space and even Presidential elections, I remind myself again that control and love are not the same.
I wrote about this dynamic—the desire to reassure myself with statements like “God is in control” and the call to instead remind myself that God is love—for Breaking Ground this week in an essay about uncertainty, control, love, and this election:
Christians across the political divide will pray for God to appoint the leader who will carry out God’s way of justice and mercy. It will be tempting for those whose candidate wins to feel that their prayers have been answered. But as we enter into the uncertainty of this next week and perhaps months, we need to comfort ourselves not with a simplistic understanding of God’s control over human events but rather with a willingness to participate in the holy mystery of God’s steadfast love.
That’s my question, and my prayer this morning: how can I continue to participate in the holy mystery of God’s steadfast love no matter what happens?
Continue reading the essay here.
(Andy Crouch and I also had a chance to talk about the difference between God’s love and our desire for God to be “in control” in our podcast conversation yesterday. You can find that here.)
If you’re also wrestling with uncertainty, control, and the election, continue reading:
- Faith Is Trusting in the End of the Story
- Anxiety and the Peace of God
- How Love Brings Power in the Midst of Powerlessness {Ep 109}
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