Thoughts on the Election

I rarely have time to post on my blog anymore, as homeschooling and studying/writing for other teaching opportunities keeps me very busy. But I wanted to quickly share a few thoughts about the election that just took place. These will be my unrevised thoughts since I don’t want to take a week or two to fine-tune this post like I usually do; not only is my time limited, but I’d like to post this right away while the election is still fresh in everyone’s minds. The point of this post is NOT to argue for why I thought Trump was the better candidate or why I voted for him this time, but rather just to share what’s on my mind.

This was an especially meaningful election for me because it was the first presidential election that the candidate I voted for actually won the presidency. I live in PA, which is a very significant (possibly even the most significant) swing state. I’ve heard that whoever wins PA usually wins the entire race. PA often goes blue, so the fact that my county and state both went red this time, which was the key to Trump winning the election for the whole country, makes me feel like I was a part of something big. I truly believe God showed mercy to our nation by allowing the candidate to win who will restrain more evil and encourage more good (biblically speaking), and I am grateful to have had a role in that.

Last night I read Daniel 2:20-22 to my kids before bed. We prayed for our country and thanked God for His sovereignty no matter what the outcome of the election was. While we all would’ve been disappointed in a Harris win, we would’ve gotten over it in a couple of days. We wouldn’t have been in any deep emotional distress.

But based on what I’m seeing from Harris supporters online, the same cannot be said of them. They feel like their world is ending. They are numb and sick. They are telling their children that anyone they know who voted for Trump (including grandparents and other family members!) doesn’t care about them or their futures. They are eliminating all contact with family or friends who voted for him. Their children are devastated and fearful because they were told that their health, safety, and even their very lives depended on the outcome of this election. They are hateful, hopeless, bitter, and full of spite. They want revenge and retaliation.

Things like this make me realize just how life-changing it is to have faith in an all-powerful, trustworthy, good God. Without my belief in His sovereignty and goodness, I may have been in a similar state of despair and rage. Without God, there is no meaning to any of this. There is nothing and no one to run to when people and governments let us down. When trouble comes, there is no hope of those difficulties being used to refine us, to prepare for us “an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17). There is just darkness.

I pray that many of the people who feel this way now would someday know the peace and rest that we can have in Christ. Despite the anger and malice that they feel towards us, we should correct our opponents with gentleness and kindness, patiently enduring evil, praying that “God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26). I pray for the salvation of both Kamala Harris and President Donald Trump. And I am thankful for this great country and the freedoms we enjoy.

America, America, God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!