Voting for God - Lawrence Darmani writes

I will go out and cast my ballot today. Why? Because it is my civic and Christian duty to vote, and I hate to be disenfranchised. 

Moreover, I know that if I fail to cast my ballot for one candidate, I will, indirectly, be voting for another candidate involuntarily. For, refraining from voting is a vote in itself.

Eligible to vote

Since I became eligible to vote, I have been casting my ballot every time. Sometimes, the candidates I voted for won; other times they lost.

It almost feels as if casting a ballot is like throwing a dice!  

I’m not swayed by any of the truckloads of promises I hear, because I don’t believe any of them, since I’ve heard them before. Yet, I will cast my ballot for one of the candidates.

To me, the excessive campaigning that went on was like pouring water on a duck. I am the duck and I know how to shake off the water from my back. So I don’t get disillusioned.

Who is my preferred “presidential candidate?” God is, and he is not a “candidate,” neither is he a “former” president or a “current” vice president. God is my President and he has always been, from eternity to eternity.

Synonyms of ‘vice’

By the way, I’ve always had a problem with the word “vice” as an English word, because the synonyms for “vice” are frightening. Just pick up your phone and ask Google about it. Maybe “assistant” or “deputy” president would do, but vice?  

Yet among the presidential candidates are those who have been associated with being vice president. And I may end up voting for one of them or for one of those who have never been vice before. But certainly, I will go and cast my ballot.

My prayer is that whoever becomes president will govern well. But I’m not under any illusion about the weaknesses of the homo sapient called “human being”, whose spirit may be willing but whose flesh is weak.

That is why my real vote, not just a ballot made of bond paper, is God Almighty<\_>the President of the universe who has no vice and flesh but whose Spirit is both willing and able to help us.

If you think your real president is flesh and blood who went about campaigning, then you are of all people most to be pitied. Flesh and blood will always disappoint us, but God does not.

Rejecting God

This business of electing presidents reminds us of the sad story of the Israelites who asked the prophet Samuel for a king. They didn’t like theocracy, where God was their supreme ruler.

Even when the prophet explained to them that a king would squander their resources as they do today (1 Samuel 8:10-20), they still went for a king, which saddened Samuel. God told Samuel, “It is me they have rejected, not you.”
Israel got their kings, but not without the disasters that followed. Rejecting God is at the core of the moral, social and economic decay associated with ungodly living that affects governance. 

Presidents come and go

I have seen several presidents and heads of state and their vices. And, having lived through their relatively long or brief rules, I’m convinced that my true President is God Almighty, and I “vote” for him every day.

While presidents come and go, God remains forever. Kingdoms, empires and unions fall and their leaders die off while Almighty God lives forever. 

Regimes that undermine Christianity wonder why Christians wouldn’t bow to the state but obey state institutions. It is because we are citizens of heaven and earth, and Scripture enjoins us to pray for and obey governing authorities while worshipping God alone. 

Footprints

The church in Ghana has a strong footprint in education, agriculture, health delivery, employment and the provision of social interventions.

That is our Christian responsibility, like voting, and we undertake them for God and country.

The other day, I told a tax man who came to inspect our audited accounts and taxation, “We pay our taxes faithfully, not just because GRA tells us to do so but more so because Romans 13:1, 6 says so.  And to me, the Romans passage is stronger than the voice of GRA.

God is my President because he created the world and the people who inhabit it (Psalm 24:1, 2). He has endowed Ghana with everything edible and given us the arable land, rainfall and sunshine to cultivate crops.

He gave us the sea, lakes, rivers and trees for our use. With God as our President, does it matter who occupies the Jubilee House and Parliament?

Of course, it does. So I will cast my ballot for a president and an MP. The nation’s resources are entrusted into the hands of leaders who must account for their stewardship.

The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.

E-mail: lawrence.darmani@gmail.com