Post-election practicality and peace

After Tuesday’s election an acquaintance of my friend Dayle, whose politics are the opposite of Dayle’s, was perplexed. She asked why Dayle seemed so calm, when for the entire primary season she had been so passionate and urgent about the election of her favored candidate. Dayle replied that now that God had given His answer, she would rest in the knowledge that He knew what He was doing. And she suspected that what He was doing was to allow the fomenting of a situation in which the nation would start crying out to God as never before.

As Dayle related the story, it reminded me of another incident. King David also spent an undisclosed amount of time in earnest and agonizing petition, pleading with the Lord to spare the life of his ailing newborn son, born to him in an adulterous tryst with the wife of Uriah (2 Samuel 11). He lay prostrate on the floor day after day, refusing food, until his servants became concerned about him.

One day David noticed his servants whispering among themselves and figured out that the baby was dead. So David got up, got washed, anointed himself, and asked for food. The servants were perplexed. They had assumed that if the King was so despondent when the child was merely ailing, he would do something even more extreme when the child was dead. They worked up the nerve to ask King David about this, and he explained to them thus:

“While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the LORD will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:22-23).

See the eminent practicality and peace of the true children of God. Theirs is a trust so absolute that they know when to petition with all their might, and then, once the answer is given from the Lord, they know how to accept it with serenity. As in the case of David so in the case of the election that is behind us: God will do what He will do for the glory of His Name and for the best long term outcome of the people of His heart.