Andrew Forrest

Dear reader: I know it’s been a long time since I’ve posted here. Below is a copy of an email I’m sending to my church this evening, and I thought I would share it more broadly here as well. Hope it’s helpful to you.
P.S. The photo above I took outside my polling place this afternoon.

Dear Asbury,

I know what’s going to happen in today’s election.

No, I don’t know who is going to win any particular race. More than that, I have no idea how things will shake out over the next days, weeks, and months. The future is inherently unknown and unknowable, and life is endlessly surprising. So, anything is possible.

But nevertheless, I know what’s going to happen:

God is going to work all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose. [Romans 8:28]

I’ve noticed some anxiety in our congregation over the outcomes of this election. I’m not going to play Pollyanna and tell you that everything you think should happen will happen—that it’s all going to be fine—since of course I have no idea.

Nevertheless, it’s important to remember that it’s impossible to discern exactly what God is up to from looking at the headlines.

After all, Jesus was crucified. On Friday, it looked like defeat.

But on Sunday it turned into victory!

So, don’t allow yourself to be drawn into the rip currents of either anxiety or certainty—you don’t know enough to be either anxious or smugly certain.

If what you want to happen happens, a victory now may turn out to defeat later.

If what you don’t want to happen happens, a defeat now may lead to a victory later.

Or, maybe not. Who knows?

I waited at my polling place for 50 minutes. Everyone was courteous and friendly, and the whole process was smooth. (This has always been my experience in voting.)

In line I finished reading a memoir by my favorite biblical scholar, Richard Bauckham. It’s called The Blurred Cross: A Writer's Difficult Journey With God, and in it Dr. Bauckham writes of his experience losing and then partially regaining his sight during the pandemic.

As I stood in line, I was struck by this passage near the end of the book:

But can we be thankful for everything? For God’s part in it all, we can, for God has intended nothing but our good. The advantage of the vantage point that old age gives us is that we can see that we were often wrong about what we thought was good for us. We can see how what turned out was really better for us than what we wanted. We can also see how God brought good out of things that went wrong, whether through our own foolishness or fault or otherwise. Undoubtedly things did go wrong, often seriously wrong, but by God’s grace the outcomes were better than they might have been. If that is not always the case, it is probably true more often than we recognize. God redeems our sins by making less of them than they had the potential to be, just as he enhances the good things we do by making more of them than we could do ourselves. All this is involved in tracing the hand of God in our lives and adding the seal of thankfulness and thanksgiving to all these experiences. [Emphasis added.]

There is a lot of wisdom in those words, isn’t there? "The advantage of the vantage point that old age gives us is that we can see that we were often wrong about what we thought was good for us. We can see how what turned out was really better for us than what we wanted. We can also see how God brought good out of things that went wrong, whether through our own foolishness or fault or otherwise.”

Yes. Exactly.

In the magnificent eighth chapter of his Letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul isn’t offering easy, empty platitudes to the Roman Christians along the lines of “Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

No. In fact, much of the chapter is about how suffering and difficulty is an inevitable part of a Christian’s life, and more than that, a crucial part of God’s plan to shape every Christian to become more like Christ.

But Paul’s acknowledgement that things don’t always occur in the way we would prefer is what makes his famous statement in verse 28 all the more powerful (and relevant):

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Yes. EXACTLY.

This means that whatever the outcome of this election, God is at work weaving all things together for our good and his glory.

Of course we need to work and vote and pray for what we discern is right—we have a responsibility to do so, and we will be held accountable for how we discharge our responsibilities.

But, when evening comes and our work is done (this day and every day), we also rest and rejoice in Jesus Christ our Lord, who is working all things together for good.

Amen.

See you Sunday. Christ is Risen!

Andrew