Hope Rooted on the Rock

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Psalm 119:114

You are my hiding place and my shield;

I hope in Your word.

NKJV

President Obama won election in 2008 on a message of hope and change.  However, as we approach the end of Obama’s second term, we are seeing much anger and frustration among voters in the United States.  With the passage of Obamacare, millions still unemployed, and the threat of terrorism like we now see in Europe coming to the U.S. through its open borders, there has been change but little hope.

Hope is a fleeting thing and something we as humans cling to when we find ourselves in a struggle.  However, when we put our hope in something unstable like a politician, or government program concocted by flawed people, our hopes are soon dashed as the politician, or program fails.  This leaves us with the question, in what should we place our hope. 

In Psalm 16:8-9, David declares that he has set the Lord always before him and because of that, his flesh rests in hope.  In Psalm 31:24 David tells us all who hope in the Lord will be of good courage and will have the Lord strengthen their hearts.  Psalm 33:17-18 reminds us that a horse, a symbol of strength in battle is a vain hope and that hope comes to those hoping in the mercy of the Lord.  These scriptures, and many others contained in The Bible remind us that the source of hope that is not fleeting is found in the Lord. 

This election has reached the crazy time where the personal attacks are flying around like a swarm of bees around a honeycomb.  A Cruz supporting PAC, a PAC in which Ted Cruz is forbidden by law from being involved in, attacks Donald Trump’s wife.  (1)  Even though the law not only forbids Cruz from coordinating with the PAC to make such an attack but also forbids him from ordering them to stop, the calls on Cruz to take down the ad continue. 

However, this did not prevent Donald Trump from going to his favorite place, Twitter, to launch his own personal attacks at Heidi Cruz for her looks tweeting side-by-side pictures of both wives.  (2)  We also have accusations from five women that they supposedly had affairs with Ted Cruz from of all places the National Enquirer.  Initially the Cruz campaign hurled accusations at the Trump campaign for peddling the story to the Enquirer.  However, the truth behind the peddling of the story goes back to the Rubio campaign.  (3)  

On the Democrat side of the coin we have the potential indictment of Hillary Clinton over the placing of sensitive information that could jeopardize national security on an insecure server.  (4)  Voters placing their hope in Hillary Clinton as President face the very real possibility of another Clinton Presidency surrounded by scandal and possible impeachment, another example of the fleetingness of hope placed in flawed politicians.  Meanwhile, the real issues of the campaign seem to be ignored as the candidates hurl personal slurs back and forth.

The real issues facing voters today is how they have seen the hope placed in Obama to change the direction of the country and improve their lives fail.  Once again, voters are turning to candidates for President with the hope that they will somehow have the magic formula or program that will improve their situation only to see these candidates participating in a juvenile playground argument over whose spouse is more attractive or facing criminal indictment. 

I encourage candidates to get back to debating the issues affecting the daily lives of voters like the economy and national security and stop the juvenile attacks.  I encourage any candidate facing potential criminal indictment to come clean and if necessary drop out of the campaign in order to prevent the nation from having to endure another presidential scandal and possible impeachment. 

I encourage voters to remember that all of the candidates running for office are flawed individuals as we all are (Romans 3:23).  The perfect candidate has never been on the ballot and is absent in this election as well.  Hope placed in these individuals to improve one’s situation in life is fleeting and will leave one empty.   

Instead, let us place our hope in the one who left the glory of heaven to become one of us (Philippians 2:6).  Let us place our hope in the only one who lived a sinless life but died for all of our sins (2 Corinthians 5:21) so we can have eternal life with God by simply believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Messiah (John 3:16).  Let us place our hope in the one who is coming back to end all the struggles and evil in our world (Revelation 22:1-5).

It is another election year and it is our duty as voters, and especially evangelical Christian voters to vote for the best candidate for office by remembering they all have flaws.  However, when it comes to hope, let us remember to place our hope on the rock of Jesus Christ and the Word of God for only then can we have a hope that is not fleeting and will not fade away. 

1. Krieg, Gregory J. What is a Super PAC? A Short History. abcnews.go.com. [Online] ABC News, August 9, 2012. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/super-pac-short-history/story?id=16960267.

2. Byrnes, Jesse. Trump Revs Up Heidi Cruz Attacks. thehill.com. [Online] The Hill, March 24, 2016. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/274159-trump-doubles-down-on-heidi-cruz-attacks.

3. Asawin Suebsaeng, Betsy Woodruff. Ted Cruz 'Affair' Rumors Peddled by Marco Ribio's Allies. www.thedailybeast.com. [Online] The Daily Beast, March 25, 2016. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/25/ted-cruz-affair-rumors-peddled-by-marco-rubio-s-allies.html.

4. Hattem, Julian. FBI's Hillary Clinton Email Investigation Not Letting Up. thehill.com. [Online] The Hill, January 28, 2016. [Cited: March 27, 2016.] thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/267269-fbis-clinton-investigation-not-letting-up.