By the time you read this, the South Carolina primaries will be history, but as I write, I’m supposed to cast my vote in just a few hours and I’m still not sure who to vote for.
I feel this awful pressure, like it all depends on me and my one measly vote. I know that sounds crazy, but sometimes that’s just how my irrational, hyper-responsible mind works.
Wanting to be an informed voter, I’ve been diligently seeking information about each candidate, which means I’ve exposed myself to nearly toxic doses of news and talk radio. I feel like I need to take out my brain and soak it in bleach.
I don’t normally keep the TV turned on to news stations all day long. In fact, I’ve always wondered why anyone would do that and invite so much stress, frustration and despair into their lives. A common complaint and running joke amongst friends who are caring for elderly parents is how torturous it is to listen to Fox News 20 hours a day blaring at full volume.
That joke stops being funny, though, when we soberly realize we’re the ones becoming addicted to the endless chatter of the pundits.
I may have to enter some kind of 12-step program when the elections are over, but right now I feel compelled to learn all I can as I get ready to vote in what may be the most important election of my lifetime.
I just wish that gleaning a little truth didn’t require sifting through so much garbage. All the lies, accusations, over-rehearsed platitudes and exaggerations sure do make the process unnecessarily unpleasant.
I feel like I’m stuck in some bad reality TV show that makes the world so small, the focus so narrow, and the goal so all-consuming that perspective is lost—by the candidates, for sure, but also by those of us voters who are sincerely trying to pick the best person to lead our nation.
I definitely need to come up for air and realize the fate of the nation won’t turn on my one vote.
This “it’s-all-on-me” stress is nuts. And it reminds me of a similar stress Jesus Christ came to save us from. Not voting stress, but salvation stress.
If I asked random people on the streets this question: “Do you think you’ll go to heaven when you die?,” many would probably say, “I hope so. I try to be a good person.”
Sounds right, doesn’t it?
Maybe, but it’s not. Press the buzzer. Send this contestant home with a lovely parting gift.
The Bible is clear that we can’t earn a ticket to heaven with our good works. Check out Ephesians 2:8-9 in the Amplified Bible: “For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].”
Do our good works matter? Yes. The next verse in that Ephesians chapter says we’re created to do good works, so they matter. But they can’t save us. Only the good work of Jesus can do that.
If my shoulders are too wimpy to bear the weight of choosing a president, they sure can’t handle the pressure of trying to be good enough to earn a ticket to heaven.
I’m so thankful Jesus has lifted that—and so many others—off of me.
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7