Lean Not on Your Own Understanding
As I write this we are just about seventy-two hours past the general election where Donald Trump was voted by the American people to become the 45th President of the United States. It has been an amazing week in so many ways. Some of the words used to describe what has happened are "historic", "unprecedented", "epic", "seismic", and "extraordinary" among others.
I have been fascinated to listen to some of the public commentary from both parties, as well as the mainstream media and other pundits. Each is offering their review of what happened, why it happened and more predictably, what it means for the future. The latter seems almost laughable given the fact just about every political expert completely missed the outcome of this election. The vast majority of discussion on Election Day was how early Hillary Clinton would be declared the winner and how the Republican party was going to pick up the pieces after their devastating loss. There was definitely going to be some extended soul searching on how they had lost the election but also would there even be a way forward for the Republican Party. Forty eight hours later it was the complete opposite with Trump winning the White House and the Republican Party taking majority control in both the House and Senate. The unthinkable had happened and now the commentary is the Democratic Party is in shambles and it was they who need to do the soul searching. Without missing a beat the political experts were now offering “analysis” of why it happened and what it means going forward. The hubris of it all!
If we are honest with ourselves we know we are guilty of the same hubris more times than we care to admit. We make our observations about people, situations, historical trends, past behaviors and our own experience and put together our own predictions about future events. It is our pride that drives us to believe that “we know.” God declares otherwise throughout Scripture and it is summarized for us in Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” The observations from the amazing turn of events in this past election are many but it stands as one more reminder of the folly of trusting in ourselves. The earth belongs to the Lord and everything in it (Psalm 24:1) and He continues to work out His plans and purposes. We would do well to trust in Him with all our hearts, looking for His wisdom and guidance in all we do.
My point is not political but rather an observation about human nature. The political elite had their trends, observations, data analysis, early polling interviews, exit polling interviews, opinions about who won the debates, historical tendencies, state voting records, which campaign spent the most money and who had the best field operatives and all the other information that they rely on. They had every reason to believe, in their own minds, that they knew what was going to happen and then spoke authoritatively about the future. In the end they were stunned by what actually happened.
Author
Pastor Bruce is the Executive Director of God's Living Stones. He lives in Omaha, NE, with his wife Barb. They have two adult children.
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