Reflections on Brexit

The first thing I did on Friday morning was look at my phone. The first thing I saw on my phone that morning was the news that the majority of voters in the United Kingdom had opted to leave the EU.

My heart sank.

The country’s attitude worried me

I’ve been unapologetically in for a number of weeks. The arguments for Leave were unconvincing, a bombardment of lies and fear mongering. Admittedly, a lot of the Remain campaign was based around the very same; but I felt a vote for Remain was a vote for unity. A vote for teamwork. A vote for a country that didn’t run away from problems, but got stuck in and wrestled with them. I yearned for a country that didn’t divorce after a rocky period in it’s history, but stuck it out and fought to make things right.

The reason the European Union was created was to make a new movement to create unity between Germany and France after the Second World War. I felt that was a cause worth sticking around for.

But more than that, the result worried me because it said to me that the nation I was born, raised and live in is full of people who would rather get out than fight it out. It’s full of people that want to hark back in time to the “good old days”, to not look forward to a future with a united continent. It felt regressive. It felt dangerous.

The country’s material future worried me

Not only did it worry me because of what it meant about the attitudes of the country I live in, but because of the uncertainty we’ve put ourselves in. The Prime Minister is stepping down. The Labour leader is being pushed out. The pound has wavered. Scotland have suggested they will hold another referendum to separate from the UK. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are considering unification. The imminent future looks difficult.

But out of all that, and everything that is to come in the United Kingdom, I know only one thing: God reigns.

Shake it off and move on

For the first part of my Friday, I let the worry in my heart distract me and shake me. At a time when I should have been praying and seeking God’s wisdom and comfort, I was hardening my heart. I felt sad, angry, disappointed. What I should have been feeling was the need to cry out to God and seek his favour for my country.

No matter what my own personal concerns are about the country and the decision the majority have made, I need to hold on to the hope I have that God is ultimately in control. I don’t have to understand or foresee the consequences of such a big decision. I just have to pray, to seek God, to trust him, and to keep praying for my nation to be a nation full of disciples.

And aside from praying for my country, I need to put my personal feelings on the issue to one side. We have a democracy; the (slim) majority voted to Leave. So we leave.

Bickering, arguing, lobbying, protesting: none of it will help. What’s needed now is for the country to put the referendum behind it and to focus on making it work. Holding the government to account, maintaining relationships with our peers who may have voted contrary to ours, and staying united.

It might be difficult, it might take time, but it’s the only thing that matters. Put aside your sadness, anger and disappointment. Look ahead. And please, stop arguing.

It’s happened, move on.

A verse I love

Isaiah 43:18.