The Best Thing to Do Now

As Little Orphan Annie says, the sun will come up tomorrow.

I didn’t stay up to learn the final election results last Tuesday night. I value my sleep – not for beauty, that cause is lost. But since I had to get up around 5 the next morning, I needed my rest.

Good thing, too, because the re-election of President Barack Obama wasn’t confirmed until long past midnight. And the results from Florida still hadn’t come in. (Do we know even now how folks in Florida voted? Well, what do you expect when the state’s greatest claim to fame is a Mickey Mouse outfit?)

Anyway, early Wednesday I let the dog out and looked for the newspaper. But it hadn’t arrived – apparently the publishers held the presses until they could officially report the winner. No Truman-Dewey fiasco in Chattanooga!

Fortunately, with the Internet at my fingertips, I quickly learned the outcome. Gov. Romney had conceded, so that was that. My first thought was, “At least I hope we don’t have four more years of blaming President Bush for the poor economy. It’s time for President Obama to start shouldering some of that responsibility.”

Having already been outdoors, I knew the truth: The sky hadn’t fallen, contrary to some ardent conservatives’ fears, so it was okay to dress and go to my exercise class. And I felt uplifted by the words of that ageless philosopher, Little Orphan Annie: “The sun will come out, tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow, there’ll be sun.”

I also had the assurance of Psalm 118:24 – “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” Somehow I knew, despite the sounds of Obama bashers gnashing their teeth, God was not in heaven wringing His hands, fretting, “What am I going to do now?”

He knew then – and knows now – exactly what to do. And He does it quite well.

But what are we to do? For some reason I remembered the example of my late friend, Ted DeMoss, who more than 25 years ago made what seemed like an audacious statement. Then the president of CBMC-USA, the ministry I worked with for about 20 years, Ted said he prayed daily – by name – for top leaders of the then-Soviet Union. This was years before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the subsequent shredding of the Iron Curtain.

When Ted made that statement, my honest thought was, “What a silly thing to do. What can that accomplish?” How smart was I? I’m not saying Ted’s prayers directly led to Communism losing its fearsome grip in the USSR and Eastern Europe, but they certainly didn’t hurt.

Why did he pray that way? Because he believed in admonition of 1 Timothy 2:1-2, a passage I referred to last week. Simple and straight-forward, it says:

“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

It’s nestled alongside other biblical commands and guidelines, but how many of us do that? Seems we’d rather grumble and complain, when God says, “Pray – for everyone!” Those of us that follow Jesus Christ, regardless of political persuasion, should heed those words.

And while we’re at it, let’s add key leaders from Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Israel and other Middle Eastern nations to our petitions. Who knows what God might do?