Kenyan Supreme Court ruling to redo election calls Americans to gratitude

It has been almost a year since America’s 2016 presidential election, but, if any other Americans are like me, I still get slightly nauseated seeing a headline referencing any presidential election.

So when the news came out that Kenya was redoing its presidential election after the Kenyan Supreme Court ordered a new vote due to irregularities ruining the integrity of the election, I tried to just skim by it. After seeing it come up multiple times, I leaned on the grace of God to get past the initial vertigo and realize this story contained a call to action and a call to thanksgiving.

Kenya has a history of violence surrounding its elections. The 2007 election left 1,300 people dead and displaced 600,000 from the country. The wake of this past election was more peaceful but still resulted in dozens of deaths.

A decrease in the number of deaths and the historic ruling from the supreme court signal that Kenya is moving in the right direction. However, we as Christians are not called to passively observe turmoil in other nations. While not everyone is called to go and help in a tangible way, every Christian should pray daily for those suffering in other countries.

Is it not selfish to know the pains of the world, yet neglect to bring them before the throne of the omnipotent God? Our prayers are not to help God be aware of their suffering, but to call upon his power to move and to align our hearts with God’s will and plan.

Let some of us go with discernment and training to the challenging places of the world. But let all of us pray for Kenya’s future elections to occur peacefully with no further charges or suspicions of corruption.

This time of prayer should also arouse a spirit of gratitude within our hearts.

It is easy and normal to criticize the American government’s flaws. I mean, how can you not be upset, but slightly amazed, that this past summer, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie shutdown all state beaches and proceeded to vacation at the governor’s official retreat at Island Beach State Park? I do not care who you are, that is crazy and should be laughed at and criticized.

There are also intricate and systematic issues within our government that seriously affect millions in our country. None of these should be ignored or made light of.

However, living in a country where you get to vote without the fear of being killed, where you are allowed to have views across the spectrum and where freedom rings in ways it rarely does around the globe is cause for celebration and consistent thankfulness.

Our country is far from perfect, but until the second coming of Jesus Christ, nothing on this earth will ever be perfect. That knowledge should not lead to complacency and inaction, but a sense of peace that allows us to simultaneously recognize what is broken and what is praiseworthy.

To solely dwell on the flaws or the strengths of our country would be wrong. Instead, just as Christians live as dual citizens of heaven and earth, we must also live as dual citizens of realism and optimism, of action and thanksgiving.