What I’ve realized in this Election

Oct 30

This will not be a post telling you who to vote for or who not to vote for. This post is a honest picture into what I have been wrestling with in my heart for the past few months. I know someone else has been feeling the same, so I decided to write this to share the revelation and peace I found in the midst of this crazy world.

To tell you the truth, I have been extremely conflicted and disappointed within this election. I didn’t feel as if any of the candidates were good options to be our next leader. Personally I felt as if one was underprepared and one was of poor character I would never desire in a leader.

One thing I knew when this thing started though was that our hope could not be put into either candidate, and it was foolishness to believe that any man had power to save us.

Psalms 146:3-7 says this, “Put not your trust in princes, or in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When this breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.”

I believed this, but still did not know what that meant for my vote.

Traditionally, I had always felt as though I aligned with one party, but could not find myself committing to some of their policies. There were things on both sides that I valued. I was torn.

God revealed to me the reason behind why I gravitated to what I did. One Sunday, 2819 Church had a guest speaker named Matt Chenning preach a sermon that discussed ancient strategies of the enemy. He said this,

“Both ideologies resemble elements of the kingdom of God, but neither of them are the kingdom of God. So on one side you see this emphasis on social justice, all things in common, caring for the marginalized, accepting the foreigner, loving people for who they are and how they feel while on the other side there’s traditional families, sanctity of life, working hard and earning your wages, gender distinction, and religious freedom. Neither are the kingdom, both have elements of the kingdom. Since both ideologies have elements that resemble the kingdom, divisiveness occurs, and there’s this real temptation to unify under that which is not the kingdom.”

This comforted my heart. We live in an extremist, overgeneralized world. We are complex creatures, and there is a space for Christians to agree with elements of both sides. In all the things mentioned above, we see the Gospel. The truth of our Lord Jesus Christ. Justice. Caring for the poor and marginalized. The sanctity of life. Working hard and earning your wages. Loving people for who they are. Gender distinction. Accepting the foreigner. Religious freedom. And more.

I pray the whole body understands this.

This brought me to my next question: Okay God so if there are elements that represent you in both ideologies then how do I vote, when just as there are elements that resemble you, there are elements in both that do not resemble you, and are not like Christ?

There was a temptation not to vote, with no candidate proving sufficient, but for me that decision would have been out of fear not faith. Indifference in my case, was a cowardice move, whereas for others their conviction to not vote may be different. The Lord has given us wisdom and discernment to evaluate each candidate reasonably according to what we know. I had settled on looking past both the candidates to making my decision based on their policies alone. I did this. I researched both set of policies from as many unbiased and center sources as I could because I, like many others, have been bombarded with lies and slander from every side and cannot trust a 15 second ad to tell me all I need to know about policy.

I found more clarity and peace in this, but still fell into fear when I ‘d hear more stories and more opinions of this person or that. I cried out to God, and he reminded me again of who He was. He was bigger than all of these candidates, was never surprised, and is still in control regardless of what happens. That gave me peace. So I will vote according to the conviction that I feel, and trust that the Lord of the universe is big enough to handle the outcome, because I assure you no side will result in total glory. There will be sin on both sides. But our God is bigger. He is good. He is just. He can handle it. He can take what the enemy means for evil and true it for good.

Genesis 50:20 ESV, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

So for anyone teetering, stressed, or heartbroken over the state of our country—pray, vote, and leave the rest to God.