A few things to remember . . .

That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.  Isaiah 45:6-7

Tonight the voting takes place in Iowa.  People set into motion who becomes our next president.

Just a few things to remember:

1.  God is in control even when we think everything has gone crazy.

The 1st century environment of the early church was just as insane as America seems to be right now.  The ruler of the free world torched his own capital in order to rebuild it.  Sit tight, people - we are going to make it through whatever these nutjobs throw at us.

2.  Some of the best advancements in human understanding come after we really, really blew it.

Like a pendulum, the human psyche goes through crazy periods and then times of great spiritual renewal.  In the early 1900's major cities shut down to study the Bible.  And then of course the same century had Woodstock.  We are fickle people - ride this out.

3.  As much as people like to pretend it, they really aren't in control.

If some crazy person takes over at the top - you don't have to fear.  If your faith tells you that God is the one who is in charge then start acting like it.  Less political conversations and more "hey guess what, there is something more powerful than politics at play here . . ."

4.  If we wind up picking crazy people to lead us, then that means we are crazy.

You might think that dark forces are behind the current events.  The problem is that the majority of the people being polled right now identify as Christian.  Like serious Christian.  So . . . guess what?  We are crazy.  This might be a really good time to look again at the word Christian and see what that means.

5.  The end times.

If we believe that Jesus will return when things get really crazy, then maybe this is just the start of a very interesting era in human history.  No seriously, I don't think this is a sign of the times - but we should be open to sudden script changes if we believe the Bible.  Our faith is loaded with ideas that tell us God is returning someday - and that things will flip upside down.  But it is interesting that it talks about that day of His return as a day in which no one saw it coming.  Which means it will gradually get us there.  

So stay alert.  Stay close to God.  Don't panic - we have the everlasting creator who holds together atoms and spins galaxies.  The next few days are a great opportunity for us to exhibit how our faith guides us - not Fox News.  

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.  Proverbs 19:21