Looking Past This Alternate Reality

Like everyone does, I have a lot of labels.

Christ follower. Wife. Mom. Daughter. Sister. Friend. Crafter. Writer. Baylor alum. Hider of chocolate. But, there is one label I wish I could erase.

Worrier.

I am a chronic worrier. Just ask my poor husband.

If my kids take an extra long nap, I immediately think they might be getting sick. When the gas light on the dashboard comes on, I panic and look for the nearest gas station. If my phone rings after a certain time at night, I imagine the worst. I truly struggle with worrying so much that I have Bible verses taped up on my bathroom mirror specifically to address this issue.

Lately, the subject of my fretting has been this election year.

Y'all, it's just too much. The very thought of Donald Trump as a presidential candidate deeply concerns me. I am beyond unsettled by the reality that people who identify themselves as "evangelical" just as I would are voting for a man who continually defends Planned Parenthood, degrades every demographic outside of white men, mocks individuals with disabilities, and cannot explain in detail a single plan he has. How people don't see right through him is in a word: baffling. Having to choose between Trump and Hillary Clinton this coming November sends me into a downright tizzy.

I pray daily about what almost feels like an alternate reality... one where a man so filled with pride and hate can actually be winning at the ballot boxes. Then today during my quiet time, it hit me: I am living in an alternate reality. America is not my eternal home, and, while I respect the presidency, our commander-in-chief is not my final authority. God has prepared a place for me (and for you if you want it) so far greater than any nation mankind can create. First Corinthians 2:19 tells us, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him."

Lord, please help me cling to these words instead of CNN! Let me find rest in your assurances and not in the presidential candidate of my choice. While primary results come pouring in tomorrow, remind me that you already know who wins in November. You are in control of it all and yours is a kingdom that cannot be shaken. That's my true reality. Daniel 7:14 says, "... His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."

I voted already. I suppose that and pray is all I can do. Pray that Americans pick someone with character. Pray that people vote with hope in their hearts rather than fear in their bones. But, ultimately, pray that God's glory be shown and His will be done. And if the results tomorrow night set my worrying off, may I remember this life is my alternate reality; my true reality is found in the blood of Jesus.