Remember taking multiple choice tests? They were a favorite of mine because even if I didn’t know the answer, there was a 25% chance I’d get it right anyway. If the teacher threw in a silly option the odds increased greatly by process of elimination.
Decision making can be similar to the multiple choice test. A dilemma presents itself and you calculate possible solutions. By weighing pros and cons you eliminate the choices one by one eventually reaching your best option.
However, what happens when there is a decision to be made, but all available resolutions have tipped the scale heavily with cons? When faced with a set of improbable choices inaction seems like the best course of action.
“I never worry about action, but only inaction.”
–Winston Churchill
In America today we are faced with some unlikely candidates for the office of President. I’ve heard many Christians say with great discouragement that because they don’t know who to vote for they aren’t going to vote at all.
If this is you, I would ask you to reconsider. I believe the Bible has something to say about this very issue.
Samson, whose story can be found in Judges 13-16, was set apart by God before birth. As an adult he took a wife from the Philistines because she was beautiful. His father and mother encouraged him to choose from among their own people, but Samson insisted.
An ungodly choice? Perhaps. It went against God’s law to not intermarry with the other nations. But, look here….
“His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this,
creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines,
who ruled over Israel at that time.”
(Judges 14:4 NLT emphasis added)
The marriage was a farce, and a feud began between Samson and the Philistines that left thousands of Israel’s oppressor dead.
Samson’s womanizing, trickery, and lies were eventually his undoing. Captured and blinded, he was imprisoned by the Philistines.
I wonder what thoughts went through Samson’s mind as he chilled in jail. Prior to his capture there is little evidence that Samson walked with God or gave Him credit for his accomplishments.
Yet, God had chosen Samson, set him apart, and used him to make a point to the Philistines who afflicted the Israelites. In Samson’s last act he had the revenge he desired and died with multitudes of the enemy of God’s people.
Samson was no hero. He was clever. He was physically strong. Influential. Conniving. Selfish. Impulsive. And God had chosen him to rule.
Let’s get something straight. I’m not here to endorse one candidate or another. I am not here to pronounce judgement or throw stones or speculate. I will promptly delete any hateful, hurtful, or argumentative comments.
I simply want to stir up the people of God to remember.
Have we forgotten Who we trust? Have we so little faith to think that God cannot work His purposes through a President that we wouldn’t choose for ourselves. Can we consider just for a moment that our finite understanding needs to move aside in deference to the infinite wisdom of God? Is it possible for our great God to use an ungodly President for His purposes?
“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is Yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. We adore You as the one who is over all things.”
–1 Chronicles 29:11 NLT
Friends, it is time to be who we say we are – believers. God gives wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5). The Holy Spirit reveals to us the will of God (John 16:13).
We must soberly fast and pray. Ask God to give us peace about which candidate to vote for and then vote.
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing.
The worst thing you can do is nothing.”
–Theodore Roosevelt
Don’t doubt – believe.
Don’t fear – trust.
Don’t gripe – pray.
And remember.
Treasures Hidden 