As our nation waits anxiously for the results of the election, pastor Steve encourages us to find hope and peace in God’s promises.

At the time of this post, the election is still still not over, and it is hard to know when it actually will be completed.

I just wanted to do a quick post here to encourage the church, to encourage Westside church, to encourage my friends. There’s just a lot of anxiety right now. I’ve found my stress level has increased significantly over these last couple of days. I’m going back and forth between CNN and Fox News all day long, just always in the background. And and it’s probably a little too much. And so I’m ready to kind of tap out for a bit. But I want to come back to a message that I’ve been kind of sharing over these last several months leading up to the election. It would be so easy to get caught up in all of this. And so a couple of Psalms have come to my mind over these last couple of days that I want to share with you. One is Psalm 75. It’s a song by Asaph. And Asaph was a worship leader during the time of King David. And when he when he wrote this song, Israel was tearing apart, it was divided. There was division among David and his children. There are questions about David’s leadership and an Asaph reminds us who God is. And so when you have a chance, I want you to just take a minute today and read Psalm 75.

He talks about how God is near. He is just and fair that he’s our healer. He’s our provider. He is. Nobody else can claim the kind of power, the authority and and desire or intent that he has to heal our world. Only God can heal our nation. Only God can provide for our every need. Only God can fulfill our hopes. And and I’ve been astonished how easy it is for me and for others to put our hope in a political figure or in a political system to do only what God can do.

Another song that I draw strength from is found in Psalm 46. I think this one is super important for us to meditate on in this moment. So I’m going to actually read this one.

It says that God is our shelter and our strength when troubles seem near, God is near and he’s ready to help. So why run and hide? No fear, no pacing, no biting fingernails when the earth spins out of control, we are sure and fearless. Even when mountains crumble and the waters run wild. We are sure and fearless even in heavy winds and huge waves. Or as mountains shake, we are sure and fearless. A pure stream flows never to be cut off, bringing joy to the city where God makes his home the sacred site where the most high chooses to live. The true God never sleeps and always resides in the city of joy. He makes it unstoppable, unshakable when he awakens at dawn. The true God has already been at work. Trouble is on the horizon for the outside nations. Not long until kingdoms will fall. But God’s voice thunders and the earth shakes. You know, the eternal, the commander of heavenly harmony surrounds us and protects us. The true God of Jacob is our shelter close to our heart. Come gaze, fix your eyes on what the eternal can do. Be still, be calm, see and understand that I am the true God. I am honored among all the nations. I am honored over all the Earth.

So it’s just a quick reminder today as you start your day, as you may take a break throughout the day to refocus our hearts toward Christ, to put our hope again today on Jesus, to turn our eyes upon him. So what I want you to do right now, I just want you to take a deep breath, let it out slowly.

Take another one. I we need we need a couple of these deep breath, let it out slow.

Think about Jesus. He’s with us. He’s for us. He hasn’t abandoned us.

He hasn’t left us to our own devices. He’s near to those who cry out to him, call out to him who put their hope in him.

There’s this old old song, it’s called “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus”. And every time I sing it or Lindsay leads it at our church, it’s like almost like nostalgia where I contemplate again that as I turn my eyes upon him, as we look intently on his wonderful face, the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

Love you all. Keep your eyes on Jesus today, this rest of this week, the rest of this month, all the way through the end of the year. He is our source of hope and our source of strength. Love you guys. Can’t wait to see you again and hope you guys have a great day.