"Who has understood the mind of the LORD, or instructed him as his counselor?" (Isaiah 40:13, NIV). "O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! (Romans 11:33, KJV).
The most important thing about us is our concept of God (just look at how Joseph treated his estranged brothers because he believed in Providence yet he told them God had done it (cf. Gen. 50:0). The issue is how big our God is (not how big our faith is! And we must realize He's bigger than we can fathom, bigger than all our issues and problems. Our beliefs do indeed affect our actions, character, demeanor, disposition, track record, credentials, and behavior. That's why it's important to have a divine viewpoint, or see things from God's perspective (i.e., having a Christian worldview).
The most important thing about us is our concept of God (just look at how Joseph treated his estranged brothers because he believed in Providence yet he told them God had done it (cf. Gen. 50:0). The issue is how big our God is (not how big our faith is! And we must realize He's bigger than we can fathom, bigger than all our issues and problems. Our beliefs do indeed affect our actions, character, demeanor, disposition, track record, credentials, and behavior. That's why it's important to have a divine viewpoint, or see things from God's perspective (i.e., having a Christian worldview).
Martin Luther told Erasmus that his thoughts of God were too human! This is the issue: People limit God and don't apprehend that you cannot put the infinite into a finite space, or, to use a cliche, put God in a box or make Him one-dimensional! The old Latin phrase (finitum non capax infinitum) said that the finite cannot grasp (apprehend or contain) the infinite. This is why we will never peg God or figure Him out, He is beyond our analysis (cf. Isaiah 55:8-9; Rom. 11:33). Even after many eons in eternity, we will still be just scratching the service in knowing Him; we can never know Him exhaustively, but only truly!
What is the practical application of this? God is not defined or delimited by man and we cannot compare Him to us, but only contrast Him, and only draw analogous inferences. Only that which is revealed in Scripture belongs to us and the secret things belong to God (cf. Deut. 29:29). To be more specific, you cannot say God is a member of your party, He would drive a Harley, or even be a gun-toting, loyal member of the NRA (they wouldn't even accept God as a member even if He did apply!)--or even that God is American, even though our nation is especially blessed, it is not superior or even God-inspired. Our status as the city on a hill is eroding fast! The nation Israel is God's chosen people forever.
Christendom is from God but God reveals Himself in manifold ways around the world, not just in our culture. So don't think you're becoming more Christlike by joining some elite or exclusive club or that your loyalty matters to God in it, because your citizenship is in heaven and God demands ultimate and final devotion and loyalty. Even if you have faithfully, as a believer, voted one party all your life, don't assume that God is a member of that party--even if your spiritual leaders all are members and you believe the other parties are of the devil or completely wrong and out of God's will. It is like saying God favors a sports team and rigs games with divine "luck." ("God is no respecter of persons," or He shows no partiality; Acts 10:34: Romans 2:11)
God doesn't even vote on one issue, like some who say they vote the Second Amendment or with the stance of the NRA (who says this is a right God gives us anyway? or they always choose the pro-life candidate, as the Roman Catholic Church requires its members to do. God is too complicated to make Him a one-issue voter; this is like being biased and showing favoritism--there is no partiality with God--His political stands cannot be comprehended nor defined by us and we will never know who He thinks is the best candidate till he wins--Providence ultimately reveals it. God has reasons for His will, that our reason cannot fathom.
What is the practical application of this? God is not defined or delimited by man and we cannot compare Him to us, but only contrast Him, and only draw analogous inferences. Only that which is revealed in Scripture belongs to us and the secret things belong to God (cf. Deut. 29:29). To be more specific, you cannot say God is a member of your party, He would drive a Harley, or even be a gun-toting, loyal member of the NRA (they wouldn't even accept God as a member even if He did apply!)--or even that God is American, even though our nation is especially blessed, it is not superior or even God-inspired. Our status as the city on a hill is eroding fast! The nation Israel is God's chosen people forever.
Christendom is from God but God reveals Himself in manifold ways around the world, not just in our culture. So don't think you're becoming more Christlike by joining some elite or exclusive club or that your loyalty matters to God in it, because your citizenship is in heaven and God demands ultimate and final devotion and loyalty. Even if you have faithfully, as a believer, voted one party all your life, don't assume that God is a member of that party--even if your spiritual leaders all are members and you believe the other parties are of the devil or completely wrong and out of God's will. It is like saying God favors a sports team and rigs games with divine "luck." ("God is no respecter of persons," or He shows no partiality; Acts 10:34: Romans 2:11)
God doesn't even vote on one issue, like some who say they vote the Second Amendment or with the stance of the NRA (who says this is a right God gives us anyway? or they always choose the pro-life candidate, as the Roman Catholic Church requires its members to do. God is too complicated to make Him a one-issue voter; this is like being biased and showing favoritism--there is no partiality with God--His political stands cannot be comprehended nor defined by us and we will never know who He thinks is the best candidate till he wins--Providence ultimately reveals it. God has reasons for His will, that our reason cannot fathom.
The world is too complicated, ("He's got the whole world in His hands"), and God has all of it in His care, and limiting God to one issue as being of paramount value is putting God in a box and making Him smaller than He is--there is always more to God than we can apprehend. "Canst thou by searching find out God?" asked Zophar in Job 11:7. We oversimplify the issues when we rank them or put them in some value system as to their relative importance--every issue is important to God, but He reserves the right to overrule our will with His divine wisdom, which consists of knowing the best means to the best ends.
God exalts one and demotes another at will (cf. Psa. 75:7), and the president elected is God's man for the time being in a sense of speaking. Why does the pendulum swing at the whim of the fickle people who go from one extreme in politics to another--never finding a happy medium? God is at work and has to correct our erroneous concepts of politics, and we often don't know why our God put them there till after elected (for instance, look at the wonderful job JFK did with the Cuban missile crisis!). Our nation most likely wouldn't have survived the Civil War had it not been for Lincoln, yet there were believers who seceded with the Confederacy. Lincoln wasn't even a believer till after Gettysburg, yet he was God's person for the job.
God exalts one and demotes another at will (cf. Psa. 75:7), and the president elected is God's man for the time being in a sense of speaking. Why does the pendulum swing at the whim of the fickle people who go from one extreme in politics to another--never finding a happy medium? God is at work and has to correct our erroneous concepts of politics, and we often don't know why our God put them there till after elected (for instance, look at the wonderful job JFK did with the Cuban missile crisis!). Our nation most likely wouldn't have survived the Civil War had it not been for Lincoln, yet there were believers who seceded with the Confederacy. Lincoln wasn't even a believer till after Gettysburg, yet he was God's person for the job.
That's why Christians ought to pray for the president all the more because it is our God who installed them there in that position of power under God. It shouldn't upset us if our favorite candidate doesn't win the election, because God is still on the throne and He rules over the nations, which are" like a drop in the bucket" (cf. Psa. 22:28; Isa. 40:15). Soli Deo Gloria!