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Dear John,
Earlier today, Joseph R. Biden was sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Many of our fellow citizens are celebrating, and even gleeful. Still others are mourning, worried, perhaps even fearful.
I am neither of those things. Instead, I have resolved to strive for three things, and I would like to invite all believers to join me in those today.
I am resolved to be hopeful—not because of who sits in the White House, but because of Who sits on the throne of Heaven. All governing authorities on Earth are subject to our God as the governing Authority. If I place my hope in any political leader of any party, I will always be disappointed. If I place my hope in Christ alone, I will never be disappointed.
What’s more, His light usually shines brightest in the darkest places.
I am resolved to be faithful. I think often about the book of Daniel, and specifically this verse: “The people who know their God will stand firm and take action,” (Daniel 11:32b). Daniel is a beautiful example of a faithful servant of God who obeyed every command of his governing authority, the king – except one command. In other words, he rendered unto Caesar everything that was Caesar’s. But when the king tried to take what was God’s (Daniel’s worship), Daniel had no choice except to disobey the king in order to obey God. And God blessed him and cared for him.
Today, this means that I must be obedient to our lawful governing authorities unless they forbid me from freely worshiping the Lord and living out my faith. But, even as I am obedient, I will also stand firm and take action—speaking truth into our culture and engaging with our representative government, both for the sake of my neighbor and also because my faithfulness compels me.
Faithfulness compelled us to speak light into President Trump’s administration, and we will do no less in President Biden’s.
At the end of the day, I’d rather be found faithful in the lion’s den than to be found faithless and purposeless even while I am safe from the hungry lions.
I am resolved to be prayerful. God’s Word commands us to pray for those who have governing authority over us—on this His Word is clear. So today, I will pray for President Biden and his administration—for God’s wisdom for them, for their salvation, and for their families. I will pray God would work in and through them for His purposes and His glory.
I will also pray for President Trump, First Lady Melania, and their family as they make this transition out of the White House, thanking God for all his work protecting the lives of babies in the womb and their mothers, and for religious freedom.
And, I will give thanks for a peaceful transition of power between presidents, a blessing we have enjoyed for so long in this country, but which many people throughout the world are deprived of.
We know our Pledge of Allegiance says “…one nation under God." In these fraught times, we are hearing an emphasis on that first part, "one nation," as politicians look for unity. But the most important part of that phrase is the "under God." Many of our fellow citizens have lost sight of that, and perhaps more than anything else, I'm praying that we would regain that sense of subordination to God's glory over the next few years.
In the meantime, my wife Randa and I, and our whole team at Minnesota Family Council & Institute, are praying with and for you, and for this great nation.
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