Don’t worry. No matter what happens, God is in control.

With the coming election, I’ve heard that a lot.

I hear it…and I want to say yes.I want to say God is in control. Of course I want to say it. I’ve loved God and believed in God all my life, with my whole heart. For years, I devoted my working life to God in the church, helping children learn the sacred stories of Jesus, how he loved and listened and healed and welcomed. Saying over and over what I believe to my core, that nothing—NOTHING—can separate us from God’s love.

But I can’t say God is in control. I won’t say it because I don’t think it’s true.

God is in control—of me, of you, of people individually—when we allow God to be.

You may feel differently, and I won’t argue. God is a mystery, no matter how hard we try to pin God down.

But God wasn’t in control during Helene last month when rushing waters washed families out of their homes and buried them in sludge. God wasn’t in control during the fifty-eight school shootings that have happened just this year. God wasn’t in control during the Holocaust long ago or today, while the least of these are being abused right in our own backyards. God is with the victims, staying close and comforting—and God is with us, whispering in our ears. Do something.

Bad things happen and people get hurt. Sometimes we could’ve done something. I’ve certainly been guilty of looking the other way.

So, when a friend says, “Don’t worry. No matter what happens, God is in control,” I have to say no. We can’t take ourselves off the hook. God asks us to look pain in the face, to see who will suffer if we make the wrong choice.

Look at pregnant women who may miscarry and need abortion care.

Look at people who will struggle financially, as the ultra-rich get richer.

Look at immigrants, who will face more abuse.

Look at children who will continue to die at school because nothing is done about gun control.

Look at your friends who are people of color, who will face heightened racism, as their president eggs the voices on.

Look at your gay and trans friends and their families who will suffer.

Look at the children. As their president speaks, they listen. Do we want them to hear his words?

As for me, I won’t forget kids in cages. I won’t forget his desire for our own military to shoot people peacefully protesting. I sure won’t forget what happened January 6. That alone should disqualify him.

I’m so grateful that we have another candidate with solid experience and good ideas, someone we can admire, who will unite instead of divide. If we can look past the flood of fear that is being pushed towards us as violently as Helene’s rushing waters, if we can follow the voice inside us that calls us to respect each other and the freedom our country values, I believe we can get closer to the kind of life God wants for us.

During this anxious season, may we draw close to God who always draws close to us and may we give grace freely to everyone around us.