Pawn of the chessboard of history

Mid term elections are almost over.  Can I get an “Amen”?  Mailboxes no longer filled with bulk mail.  Notice that the initials for bulk mail is BM?  No more descriptions of candidates as either saints or demons, depending on who paid for the ad.  The explosion of yard signs like dandelions in spring will come to an end, at least for 18 months or so.  I love my country and our process of selecting leaders, but I do get weary of the event.

This year, like every other, there have been dire predictions from each side about the woes that will befall us if the wrong people are elected.  Here are some of the predictions that have been made so far (with minor exaggerations on my part):

• There will be an end to medical care as we know it and the sick and elderly will be dying in the streets uncared for.  
• The economy will grind to a halt and there will be depression-like conditions in every home in the US.
• Our southern border will be completely overrun by gangs of criminals coming up from the south. Unlike anything since the Vandals invaded Rome.
• The environment will hit a tipping point and life will be unlivable. 
• One candidate claims her opponent wants to pump sewage into our drinking water (this one wasn’t exaggerated a candidate said that).
• Aliens from Zortron will install June Bug Johnson as world dictator (okay I made that one up).

There is also an incredible effort in these elections.  If the church put the same effort in reaching the lost as politicians put into getting elected the church would not be in decline in America.  For example, in one campaign for an office that pays less than $30,000 a year one side has already spent over $300,000.  A friend of mine leads a team of 10 full time workers who spend better than 40 hours a week going to doors or making phone calls to rally the vote.  One individual I know made 450 phone calls in one day for a given candidate. 

Apparently, this election is a world-shaping, super-gigantic, over-the-top important cross roads of the republic event that may shape the history of our nation and the world forever.  Or maybe not!  Maybe what we need is a little perspective.

When Cyrus came to power he was the king of Ansan a vassal state under the authority of the Median king Astyages.   He was one of many lesser kings who ruled under the authority of a greater king.  His life, from the very beginning, was marked by political intrigues and unexpected victories and bizarre alliances.  But by the time of his death Cyrus the local king had become Cyrus the Great. When he died his empire was the largest the world had seen till that time.  In the west it reached all the way to the western tip of what is now Turkey and in the east it reached the middle of India.  From the Caspian Sea in the north to the Mediterranean Sea in the southwest to the Persian Gulf, Cyrus ruled an Empire that controlled a huge portion of what we call the 10/40 window. 

But as we look at Isaiah 44:28-45:4, we get a profound picture that Cyrus was elevated by God to his position of power for no other reason than to accomplish God’s will regarding the returning of the Jews to the Holy Land and the rebuilding of the temple.  Isaiah calling him by name 100 years before the event would be like someone picking President Trump by name in the year Woodrow Wilson defeated Charles Hughes.  Who knew?  In the last chapter of 2^nd Chronicles it appears that even Cyrus understood his place in God’s plan.    “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!”

Let’s not miss the point that in spite of his political rise, Cyrus was nothing more than a pawn on the chessboard of history accomplishing the purpose that God had for him.  Maybe all our august elected officials are not the main pieces of the board, but only pawns. 

There are two points for us in this.  First, we need to remember that we maybe the pawns that God is using to accomplish his purpose.  Every Christian needs to be engaged in the political process.  Our Constitution begins with the words, “We the People….” We are the rulers of this nation and we the people need to exercise our role in leadership.  Second, no matter what happens God is still in control and His will is going to be accomplished.  A landslide by one political party or the other is no cause for despair.  We are not voting on God or His Kingdom.  We need to remember that the line from the Lord’s prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done” is as much a statement of fact as it is a request.