Where Do We Go From Here?

We are just a couple of days past the presidential election in the United States.

Many of you bear a symbol other than the eagle on your passport, yet your eyes have been on the events unfolding in this part of the world. You might be a US citizen watching and waiting while in a different country, or you found yourself back and that wasn’t what you expected this year. No matter where we are in the world, it’s hard to miss the social media landslide in the past weeks and months, the comments and arguments and opinions from every side.

Even though election day is over, many of us might be wondering, what now? We are still waiting for results, still wading through uncertainty and questions. When things do actually get settled, there are still so many issues that weigh on our hearts.

How will the appointed leader handle foreign policy, and how will that affect me as an overseas worker?

What does this mean for my visa in the place I am serving?

How will this affect my supporters?

Will the division ever end?

Back in March, I came across a song called “Whatever May Come” written by Jeremy Camp with his wife Adrienne. They posted it on their Facebook page—a simple video of the two of them singing with a guitar. It wasn’t fancy or glossy or all the things you might expect from a mainstream Christian artist.

But the words pierced straight to my heart, spoke directly to the fear welling up in me as the pandemic raged on. Jeremy and Adrienne went on to actually record the song as part of The Worship Project album and you can find it on Apple Music and Spotify, as well as on YouTube. It’s been on repeat a lot around here as I think about what is next.

The lyrics begin with this:

Whatever I face

Whatever the fear

Whatever the cost

You always draw near

Fear has been overwhelming this year. As someone who struggles with moderate anxiety under normal, daily circumstances, the additional layers and reasons to fear have created a battle in my heart. Wondering what the reaction to the election would be and how it will affect people I care about around the globe has been a constant source of fear.

I will call

I will call upon you

Whatever I face you are with me

I will fall, I will fall on my knees

For every heartbreak you will hold me

Our response, in the here and now and as we look ahead? We cry out to Jesus. I know we’ve been doing that all throughout 2020, as lockdowns have been implemented once again, as we have watched people we care about suffer, as we ask God to intervene in the midst of natural disasters and disease and unrest.

Every wall will break

All the darkness shake

All the joy will be renewed

So, every knee let’s bow

And raise a victory shout

For the king will make things new

Even though fear still grips my heart, even though so much is still unsettled, I am clinging to the hope that joy will be renewed. I am falling on my knees, desperate for God to make things new. I believe this is what we do when the fear threatens to sweep us under and overwhelm our hearts. If the fear feels heavy right now, know you are not alone.