The election is over. We have a new president, new congressmen/women, new laws. It was a dramatic night as I watched the festivities. The mood at Grant Park in Chicago was euphoric. Watching the celebration made the mood of a rock concert pale in comparison.
The theme has been “change you can believe in” on a national level. Day two and three saw the market plummet again. National debt has escalated to an unmanageable and seemingly irretrievable level. International conflict has been escalating as of late. California has experienced some strong demonstrations, complete with arrests and threats of violence. Lawsuits have been filed. The country is probably as polarized as I have seen it. October saw record financial losses and record unemployment. This will really take a “change we can believe in” and more to bring about a significant reversal of ugly trends.
In a way, though it is time to celebrate with all that is new, I feel badly for a new president taking office with so much on his/our national and international plate. I am certainly committed to pray for him, his family and his selection of staff and wisdom to make right decisions when the winds of opinion are swirling. He is not in an enviable position.
What intrigues me most is how much hope people put in this election. One would think, viewing the festivities the other night, that the solution has arrived and that problems will soon be disappearing. However, I would think that most reasonable people would conclude that an expectation placed upon a president to end human suffering, loneliness, hatred, poverty, racism, purposelessness and injustice is unrealistic.
I think of Jesus’ words to the woman at the well in John 4:13-14. He said, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” Only Christ can give people what many hope for through other means. I pray that the new government leads wisely and well. I pray that our country becomes unified. I pray that the world becomes a safer place in the coming days. However, even if God answers all of these prayers, I am convinced that people will be thirsting for more.
The euphoria I witnessed on Tuesday night, that lingers even today, will be challenged in the coming days. For those of us who have found new life in Jesus Christ, we know that life in Him is the only life that quenches our deepest thirst and hunger, meeting our deepest human needs. Jesus Christ is still the only hope for the world. I yearn for the church to celebrate with the passion we saw the other night, knowing what we know. I pray that I wonder what would happen, who would peak in the door, how many would want to join if they knew the solution that only Christ provides.