Chariots and Horses

I’m just not sure how to feel today. I knew going in to this presidential election that I would be sad regardless of the outcome. But this morning, I have spent lots of time thinking and talking to my husband as I have tried to sort things out in my mind and in my heart. Adam and I are in a unique and sometimes difficult position being members of the majority race while parenting a precious boy who is not. We often find ourselves discussing and playing out potential “what if” scenarios that I pray will never actually come up in the future. We wonder how we will react, how we will teach our son about things we ourselves have never experienced.

And in the face of yesterday’s election, I have found myself thinking about what I would say to Bradley if he was a teenager today instead of a toddler.

I would tell him this.

We live in a fallen world, a world marred by sin, a world hopelessly lost without Christ. We need Jesus to save us, not only for eternity, but from our daily inclination to sin and give into our inherent prejudices and our tendency to reach for hate instead of love when we are hurting. When sin entered this world, it came because mankind thought he knew better than our sovereign God. That same pride is at the root of all sin we see in the world today. Pride makes us think we are better than someone else, more deserving. But the reality is that we all, absolutely equally, need the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We are lost and wandering without it, reaching for temporal things that we hope will satisfy, only to be left with nothing but ashes.

I would tell my son that he is first and absolutely foremost a child of the Most High God, that his worth comes from the love of his Heavenly Father above all else. That he is secondly a Knott, part of a family who exists and operates out of a deep love for each other and the world, a family that values empathy and compassion. And I would tell him that everything else is tertiary, falling a distant third to these first two pieces of his identity. Yes, he is Ethiopian. Yes, he was adopted. Yes, he is a male. Those things are pieces of who he is, but my son is far greater than the sum of his parts.

I would tell him that our ultimate hope is in Christ and His redemptive plan for all of creation. I would tell him that now more than ever it is important for us to reach out in love. I would tell him that NEITHER political candidate would have been capable of solving America’s ills. Our nation has been running from God far too long.

And then I would point him to Psalm 20.

May the Lord answer you when you are in distress; 

May the name of the God of Jacob protect you. 

May He send you help from the sanctuary 

And grant you support from Zion. 

May He remember all your sacrifices. 

And accept your burnt offerings. 

May He give you the desire of your heart. 

And make all your plans succeed. 

May we shout for joy over your victory

And lift up our banners in the name of our God. 

May the Lord grant all your requests. 

Now this I know: 

The Lord gives victory to His anointed. 

He answers him from His heavenly sanctuary

With the victorious power of His right hand. 

SOME TRUST IN CHARIOTS AND SOME IN HORSES

BUT WE TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OUR GOD. 

They are brought to their knees and fall, 

But we rise and stand firm. 

Lord, give victory to the king. 

Answer us when we call. 

And in pointing my son to these words from Scripture, I would seek to remind him and myself that our God is all powerful, loving and good. That our final hope is in Him because He alone can conquer the sin that plagues this world.

So, dear friend, if you find yourself hurting and confused today, may I ask you to turn to God for the comfort you seek? Turning to mankind is sure to disappoint. But I can promise that Christ will deeply satisfy. Trust in Him first and Him alone.

With deep love,
Baylor