The 2016 election! Could it be any nastier, uglier, lewd, and grotesque?! Goodness, what a sad day when I had to worry about my 9 year old watching the Presidential debates! But the nastiness didn’t stop with the candidates. It bled into each and every citizen developing a very strong opinion about their preferred candidate, which lead to many debates being waged and many friendships being strained or severed. But, this article isn’t another debate nor is it another post bashing a certain candidate. It’s simply an article I felt compelled to write. This article is simply me sharing my heart thoughts about this election.

So to better help you understand where I’m coming from here’s just a quick summary about my little family and our support of politics. We were always the family that put signs in the yard, wore the hats, t-shirts and pins of our favorite candidates and attended campaign events and proudly cheered as our candidate walked on stage. In 2008 we attended a Sarah Palin rally and had the privilege to stand directly behind her with Mason dressed up as an adorable elephant. We even ended up on national television and in newspapers because of Mason’s costume.  Jeremy, my husband, would blog about politics and be proactive in campaigning, in our local community, for our preferred candidate. Yep, we loved the excitement each Presidential election cycle brought!!  So when this election cycle came around my family and I could hardly contain our enthusiasm. We would watch the primary debates with our bowls of popcorn and we were just as excited as if it were Superbowl Sunday. I’d have the kids take notes and we’d discuss the important topics and our favored candidates. Yep, political junkies with no shame. 😉

But…………as the the primary debates wore on our enthusiasm began to wane. Especially, when the nasty, negative and lewd comments began to emerge. We sadly began to accept the realization that this election cycle was failing to produce a candidate we could comfortably support. Coming to this conclusion lead us to re-evaluate our political stance. This step back provided an opportunity to seek God and view the political process through  the lens of His Word. In doing so it put all things in perspective. God’s Word is always good about doing that isn’t it, and in doing so it once again reiterated, People we are NOT in control.

The political process gives us all, as voters, that sense of control, that our vote matters, and that our voices are being heard, but ultimately in the grand scheme of things it is God, and God alone who makes the ultimate decision who is in the Oval Office. Although, as we read all throughout scripture God can and will use His people for His glory but the bottom line, He does NOT need us to accomplish His will. It would be arrogant of us to think otherwise. Now, you may be asking, “Am I advocating citizens not to vote”? Absolutely not! I feel it is our duty as Christians to participate. More importantly, as it states in Timothy 2: 1-3, we are to pray for our leaders, but what I am advocating for is this, that each Christian turn off the news, Twitter and Facebook, dig into God’s Word and compare each candidate through the lens of scripture and pray for God’s guidance.

As we seek God’s guidance about this election I feel we should strive, first and foremost, to honor and glorify Christ with our vote and leave our wallets or our freedoms in God’s hands.   Just as it states in 1 Corinthians 10:31b “……..whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” But sadly what I’ve observed and heard, in this and even past elections, is not how can we glorify God but more of the ancient old argument of both parties evoking fear of the future to secure loyalty to a particular party.  The fear then drives our vote, but to be quite honest I’m tired of that argument. So instead of voting out of fear let’s stop and look at what the Bible says. What does God have to say about fear?  Well, it’s an important topic to Him because He mentions in His Word, “Do not be afraid” 365 times. He also states in Matthew 6:34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…”, and He promises in Hebrews 13:5 “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

So  I urge my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to let this election be an opportunity for you as well to re-evaluate your political stance,  to take a deep breathe, turn off the voices of the liberal and conservative pundits, news media outlets,social media and look solely through the lens of scripture. Let us let go of the fear of what tomorrow may bring but put our hope in the One who we know holds the future. Let us put aside the promises uttered by the candidates, who always fail to deliver, but put our hope in the One who never breaks His promises. Let us rest assured that regardless of the outcome of the election it’s all going according to His ultimate plan. Let us put our hope, trust and confidence in the King of Kings, Lord of Lords because in the end it is all going to be okay because fellow Christians I read the last chapter of the Book of Promises and we win!! Now that’s something I think we all can agree on and support!! Amen!!  😉