“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).

2020 is full of surprises! As far as I am concerned, I would be perfectly fine with no more surprises for the rest of the year.

When we’re faced with perplexing and confusing situations, how are Christians to lead? What is the basis by which we ought to live our lives?

Something I hear a lot in such situations is “Go with your heart. Go with your gut feeling. Go with what feels right to you.”

STOP!!! That’s terrible advice. That is a recipe for terrible decisions.

The heart has no business leading. The heart is something that is to be kept and guarded. The heart is not something that should lead. The heart is something that should be led.

The word for “keep” is also translated as “guard” in the NIV. The Hebrew word mishar actually means to imprison, jail, watch, keep, or guard. The sense is that the heart is something that must be watched and kept under control because the heart is unreliable.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse – who can understand it?” Look at the words God uses to describe our hearts: devious and perverse. You see the heart is devious and perverse because it has no boundaries and no morals. The heart doesn’t care that you made a solemn vow to God and your spouse. The heart doesn’t care about right or wrong. When the heart feels tenderness for someone other than your spouse, it tells you to go for it. The heart says, it feels so right it must be right.

NO!!!

The heart is to be guarded and kept under locks because it must be led. Christians cannot allow the heart to lead.

Then what is to guide us? For the Christian this is a no brainer. It’s God’s word. God’s word is the only true guide for the Christian.

“How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” (Psalm 133:1).

When I was a pastor in Texas our church used to send short-term mission teams to Uganda every year with the exception of one year. Uganda was holding a contentious election and the US Department of State had put a travel warning for Uganda for the potential for violence after the elections. I remember thinking then how grateful I was that I lived in a country that did not have to worry about such things…

As I write this the voting polls are closing on the East Coast. Soon, numbers will start coming in. I pray that as you are reading this in the morning that the threat of violence was just that, a threat. I pray that there is a peaceful acceptance of the election results.

No matter how the election results come out, this I know: nothing happening today is catching God by surprise.

• For whatever today holds, God sent Jesus to make all that’s wrong, right
• For whatever today holds, Jesus established the church and sent the church into this world to be God’s agent of hope and light
• For whatever today holds, God is the answer, Jesus is our hope, and the church is God’s agent to establish God’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven

The text today expresses God’s heart and will: “How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!” It is good and pleasant because unity is such an oddity in a world filled such acrimonious and differing opinions. Unity does not mean uniformity. Unity does not mean that all Christ-followers are pro-life, or pro-choice, or democrats, or republicans. For the Christian, the source of our unity does not lie in anyone or anything that is creation-bound. For the Christian, the source of our unity is Jesus Christ. Our commitment to Jesus is what unites us.

This means:

• Jesus is greater than any presidential candidate
• Jesus is greater than any political party
• Jesus is greater than any political ideology
• Jesus is greater than any other being or identity that vies for our ultimate devotion

When Jesus has his rightful place on the throne in the lives of his followers, there is unity regardless of who we voted for. It is Jesus who is the hope for our broken world. It is Jesus who can bring healing in our divided world. It is Jesus who can save those who are lost and dying for meaning, purpose, and direction.

Christian, we get to have the privilege and the honor to declare the truth of Jesus Christ to a world who desperately needs what only God can offer through Jesus Christ.

Tell the world. Tell your friends. God’s got this.

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).

By the end of the day some will be elated and relieved; others will be dejected and anxious.

There have been other contentious presidential elections in my life time. But I can’t remember a single election cycle where the threat of violence was present over the results of the election. Retailers and businesses are shuttering their doors and preparing for the potential for violent protests.

Is this the United States of America? What’s happened to our country?

Christian brothers and sisters, no matter who wins the election, God is still on the throne. God is still in control. And, regardless of who you voted for, what Christ calls the church to is to be his agents of love and peace, and Christ calls you to live out God’s love for others. The mission of the church hasn’t changed, and it will not change regardless of who wins the elections.

In an anxious-ridden, contentious, divided nation, be the church. Regardless of who wins the election, your neighbors are still your neighbors, your colleagues are still your colleagues, and your brothers and sisters in the church are still your sisters and brothers. While others may be anxious and even protesting, you Christ-followers, love your neighbors, coworkers, friends.

What our world needs is a people who are able to live above the anxiety and fear to be agents of peace and love. We live out this mission to love people because God is still at work through his church. More than ever, be Christ’s ambassadors of God’s love and peace. Today, and in the days to come, be the healing balm that our world needs so desperately.

Be the church!