President Obama

I must say, I expected to wake up yesterday morning in a “funk”, if you know what I mean. I expected to be somewhat angered over the outcome of this election. After all, the winner was an all-but-professed Marxist, even to the point of quoting some of Karl Marx’s words nearly verbatim (Joe the Plumber extracted that out of him, remember the “spread the wealth” comment?) and also his voting record clearly indicated that he was in favor of abortion (excuse me, I mean a “woman’s right to chose”). He wanted to increase the taxes on small businesses which would alienate those Americans who had worked hard all of their lives to get where they were (the same spirit that has built this country in to what it is) and take that money, in order to give it to those who had not done anything to deserve it. I’m all for giving money to the poor, in fact I do, but that is much different than being forced to give my money to the poor. Joe Biden, Obama’s running mate, has confessed that they would like to decrease our military by up to 25%. Obama is on record as saying that he wants to bankrupt the coal industry (an industry that comprises nearly 40% of our electricity in the United States). Also, he wants to form a citizen’s army (not sure what that means, but I can only think of Hitler’s SA). All in all, I was due for an angry day.
Something interesting happened this morning though. I woke up after a good night’s sleep around 8:30am (that’s sleeping in for me). Janice (my wife) was still asleep next to me, which may not seem unusual, but we have a 1yr-old son who LOVES to wake mommy and daddy up around 6:30. He was still sleeping. As soon as I rolled over to snuggle up a little closer to my wife (don’t worry, I was just going to snuggle) she woke up and said “good morning”. Just then my son’s tiny, little voice came floating in to our room. He was in his crib, just talking to himself: telling stories about his Mama and Dada and making up a whole bunch of new words. This made Janice and I smile. We all got up and went downstairs together. My wife (who is 9 months pregnant) made some breakfast for Gideon and I, and then went to sit down at the dining room table. No mention of the election was spoken of in our conversation. Then, my wife said, “you know I think we need to pray for Obama. There’s been so many negative things spoken about him, and especially now that he is elected, we really need to support him and pray he makes the right decisions.” Wow. I love my wife so much; she is so compassionate. She is also, so completely right. I have been so negative and demeaning in my words towards him. I did not vote for him, but we Americans elected him. Therefore I need to do all that is necessary to help our new president as he makes decisions on a daily basis. Yes, I disagree on many issues (most, in fact) but that does not change the fact that he loves his country and will do what he sees as the correct thing for this nation.
As I drove to work, I noticed a curious thing. I felt proud of this country. I thought about our very first elections, which were monumentally significant in that it was the first time in the history of this world that a leader of a country willingly stepped down in favor of another. Never before had a country had such a change in leadership without the shedding of blood. Yet George Washington, our first Commander and Chief, with shouts of praise to him calling for him to become king of this country, ignored their pleas and willingly shed his power so that another man could ascend to his position. Let the world marvel at such a thing. His humble act has set the course for all future presidents (except for one, but we won’t get in to that now) that is seen even up to the present with George W. Bush congratulating Barak Obama on taking over his position.
We need to support Barak Obama as our new president, pray for him and do what we can to help him in his new position. If we disagree with something he wants to enact, it is our duty to let him know. He is the voice of the American people to the rest of the world now and, as such, we need to let him know what we believe in. Do not slander him, do not ridicule him; Criticize all you want and let your voice be heard, but please, please, PLEASE do not bad mouth him. I trust he will do his best to do what’s right.
Romans 13:1-2 comforts and warns me, “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” This is a grave warning. The only time it is OK to rebel is if that authority is forcing us to do things that go against the things of God. Our declaration of Independence says just that very thing. “…That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” The Declaration states that God himself has bestowed us with “certain, unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” At the moment, we still have incredible liberties. We have the liberty to serve and love our God, to convene with those of like-mind and speak freely of our beliefs. What incredible freedom we have! Our freedom is taken for granted here. Remember what an incredible nation we live in right now. God has blessed us indeed and I pray that the Lord will lead Barak Obama in the right direction as we also seek after God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength.