A phrase in the Bible’s book of Psalms captures how we often seem to view political opponents today: “the man [or woman] who bringeth wicked devices to pass” (Psalms 37:7). Yikes!
Even if opposing candidates were to pose the existential threat we might think they do, the psalmist’s counsel that leads into the words quoted above stands: “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.”
To “fret not” is to not let worry reign in us. So much seems at stake in elections that dreading what we believe would be the wrong result feels like a rational response. But fear saps our sense of empowerment, while looking beyond the daily political ups and downs enables us to perceive the one power already and always at work that’s forever established, impartially beneficent, and incorruptible. Above all, it’s power that does not harm but loves and heals: the power of Christ, the true idea of God so evident in Jesus, “who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him” (Acts 10:38).
