So America has a new president elect. I have to admit I'm a little bit excited at the prospect of what can happen but also cautious and more then a little sceptical of Obama's presidency. I've yet to seen anything that convinces me he has the ability for positive and long-lasting change.
Change itself is inevitable. It's going to happen no matter what. The recession is change. The war was change. 9/11 was change. Change is positive or negative. We can accept changes, try and stir in the right the direction or outright urge them on.
As an informed outsider, it looks to me that the US is going in a constant cycle from one extreme to the other. Just as America was fed up with the Republican regime, I'm sure that it will be with the Democrats. It's just another of history's cycles.
"History merely repeats itself. It has all been done before. Nothing under the sun is truly new. Sometimes people say, “Here is something new!” But actually it is old; nothing is ever truly new. We don’t remember what happened in the past, and in future generations, no one will remember what we are doing now."
Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
The main reason I'm skeptical of Obama is this - that he's poised as a saviour who is going to rescue America from its woes. He has been seen as the realisation of Martin Luther King's dream, the guide in times of economic woe and an end to the jaded politics of yesterday.
But he fail. He won't live up to the hype.
I'm not trying to discredit him or convince people. I've accepted that he is now America's new president but I just believe that when expectations are stacked so high, there's going to be a fall. Everyone feels the need for some kind of saviour; we all know the world is in a mess. No human can be that saviour.
I read Psalm 2 last week and I think its apt for the times:
1 Why are the nations so angry?
Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
2 The kings of the earth prepare for battle;
the rulers plot together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.
3 “Let us break their chains,” they cry,
“and free ourselves from slavery to God.”
4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs.
The Lord scoffs at them.
5 Then in anger he rebukes them,
terrifying them with his fierce fury.
6 For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne
in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”
7 The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:
“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son.
Today I have become your Father.
8 Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,
the whole earth as your possession.
9 You will break them with an iron rod
and smash them like clay pots.’”
10 Now then, you kings, act wisely!
Be warned, you rulers of the earth!
11 Serve the Lord with reverent fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
12 Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry,
and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—
for his anger flares up in an instant.
But what joy for all who take refuge in him!
Man, this was written long before Jesus even came to earth, but it describes his eventual rule and simply reminds me that when I place my trust in any politician or ruler to makes things right, God probably laughs.
With that in mind, I still believe we need to pray for our leaders, that they have wisdom and guidance from God and that they may place their trust in Jesus. So, Barack, Biffo, I'll be praying for ya.
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