For Such a Time as This

This post is from Chassidi Ferguson, a friend and leader of SHOUT Ministries in Waterloo. I've asked for some friends in SHOUT to share reflections from their African-American perspective about this historic week. Here are Chassidi's thoughts.


Grateful, Humbled, and Ready!


Here we sit on the eve of Barack Obama’s election as the first Black President. Word’s do little justice to what I feel. Grateful. Humbled. Ready.

I have to admit, when I watched the Election Day coverage on November 4th and Obama was officially the winner I felt a certain sense of ownership to his victory. After all, I did knock on countless doors getting people registered to vote. I volunteered to make many phone calls urging people to vote for him. The sense of accomplishment and victory that I feel must pale in comparison to the many generations before me; the ones who marched on Washington, whose hearts were stirred by the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - People like My Great Aunt Anna Mae Weems, Jimmy Porter and other local legends who helped pave the way. In the midst of the excitement I feel in this momentous occasion, it is tempered with an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

As a Christian, this victory epitomizes what I believe. It is such an awesome example of what years of putting your hands to the struggle, prayer, and perseverance can result in. This victory is not just a result of two years of clever campaigning and a brief movement of a nation. Rather, this victory is a result of our ancestors and their desire of a better reality for the generations that would follow them. Christianity is deeply embedded within the black community. It was years of prayer, sacrifice, partnering with conscious white neighbors, and standing on the promises of God that allowed us to survive and overcome.

I’m also humbled that God would choose me to be alive in this exciting yet challenging time. I hear a clarion call to ready ourselves for the tasks ahead. Our hope must not be in this new President, but in the God who appointed him. We must pause to celebrate this great victory, and then move forward in each of our respective roles to bring glory to God in the way we live our lives each day.

I’m reminded of the scripture that says, “We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.” Let us be encouraged by the testimony of Barack Obama; a story that teaches us that all things are truly possible. Let us also remember that we overcome because Christ overcame the world. As we proudly wave the star spangled banner in this time of heightened patriotism, we must always wave the blood stained banner of Christ. For Victory is ours only through His grace.

YES WE CAN!