The day after Brexit Day
Today, we are waking up to a whole new world. Brexit Day was yesterday, 31 January, so now it has happened and we can all get on with our lives.
Well, the process of leaving the EU has very definitely started and, given the uncertainty of the past couple of years, that is pretty significant.
Only future generations will be able to judge whether it was a monumental or trivial, good or disastrous, decision. Some of my family are most excited that they can now get blue passports!
Certainly, Brexit has been one of the most controversial political issues in my lifetime. I am unsure whether it is a genuine ideological divide in our nation or an emotional attachment to particular cultures, supercharged by social media interactions. Either way, there have been many ill-tempered debates. This seems to have calmed down for the time being as there is not much value in arguing against what is now inevitable. The last gasp of protest seems to be about the commemorative 50p coin which some “Remainers” are going to refuse to use. I don’t think this will have significant economic impact.
There are times when our trust in national leaders is justified and others when they bring us to despair. The tortuous and prolonged Brexit process has probably provoked both of those responses, whichever our preferred outcome.
But, praise God, we do not set our hopes on men, so we will not feel betrayed when they fail – or at the very least, their reign comes to an unavoidable end. We want to engage with the political process as good citizens but our ultimate hope rests elsewhere.
Psalm 146:3-5 says,
Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.
As we begin a new era in our country’s history, let us put our trust in the Lord our God, who in Christ has given us a king who is all powerful, all knowing and perfectly wise, just and good. Let us point people to Jesus as the good leader they never voted for, but the one who offers himself without cost or condition to be their Saviour and Lord.