The Presidential election is quickly approaching and in case
you haven’t noticed, I have been rather public when it comes to who I will NOT
be voting for, but I have taken a quieter approach as to who I will be voting
for on Tuesday, November 8th.
The reason for my actions are simple…I don’t like any of my
options! As a Christian woman, I find it
very disheartening that of all the people in this great nation, we have to
choose one of these three candidates (yes, we actually have three options) to lead
our nation for the next four years! I’ll
save you from my rants on why I don’t care for any of our candidates, because
that’s not what this blog post is about.
Instead, I’d like to share with you how I have finally come to a
confident decision as to who I will be voting for on election day! I pray that this post may bring clarity to
any of you who find yourself struggling to cast your support for a candidate.
In Matthew 7:15-20, we are told we
will know a man by his fruits.
Therefore, as believers, we shouldn’t accept a person’s words at face
value. God’s Word says we should instead
look at the fruit they bear. Politicians
may be the absolute worst when it comes to saying whatever will get them
elected, only to abandon their promises once in office. That is why it’s imperative to take what they
say with a grain of salt and instead look at what fruit they bear. We do this by looking at what policies they
have supported in the past. Check how
they voted on certain bills. Look at their previous actions, listen to
past speeches, pay close attention to how they respond under pressure and when under intense scrutiny, find out which charities and programs they support financially,
and watch how they treat people, especially before they were campaigning. You will find out a lot about a person’s
character by examining their fruits. This
Biblical principle is exactly the reason why I have had an extremely difficult
time casting my support for any of our candidates! I think it’s a fair assessment based on their
fruits to say that both of the front running candidates need Jesus!
So how does a Bible-believing Christ follower make a
decision to cast their vote for someone you personally don’t agree with or
identify with? Well, let me walk you
through the process that I have personally gone through to get clarity on this
question.
First of all, PRAY! As Christians, we should be in constant
communication with our Heavenly Father.
God’s Word says we should pray for all of our needs. As we pray and communicate our needs to God,
we must also be willing to listen. God’s
primary way to communicate with us is through His written Word and by the Holy
Spirit. God’s Word says in James
1:5 that if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God, and He will give it to all
men liberally. Once the primary elections were over and
it was apparent who our presidential candidates were going to be, I wasted no
time to begin praying and asking God for wisdom and clarity where there may
have been uncertainty. I’m so thankful
for God’s faithfulness to do what His Word says He will do. He is so good.
Next, DIG INTO
GOD’S WORD! As a believer, I
wanted to go directly to God’s Word and find out what His Word said about this
election! God communicates to all
believers through His Word, which is all we need to equip us for our Christian
life (2 Timothy 3:16). As I
began to search God’s Word on what it has to say about government, I was blown
away with the number of scriptures that mentioned governing authorities. There are too many to list in this one blog
post, however, here are the ones that seemed to jump off the page and give
clarity. I encourage you to take some
time to read all of the scriptures that mention “authority, govern, elect,
kings, etc.” and allow God to speak to you.
Here’s a good start.
“Choose for your tribes wise, understanding,
and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.” Deuteronomy 1:13
“Let every person be subject to the
governing authorities. For there is no
authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”
Romans 13:1
“A wise man’s heart inclines him to the
right, but a fool’s heart to the left.” Ecclesiastes 10:2
“But the thing displeased Samuel when they
said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ And
Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord
said to Samuel, ‘Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to
you, for they have not rejected you, but they rejected me from being king over
them. According to all the deeds that
they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day,
forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall
solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over
them.’ So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking
for a king from him.” 1 Samuel 8:6-22
“Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every
human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as
sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing
good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” 1 Peter
2:13-17
“And they prayed and said, ‘You, Lord, who
know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the
place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to
his own place.’ And they cast lots for
them.” Acts 1:24-26
After meditating on these scriptures and praying for
wisdom and understanding for this election, here is what I have concluded.
First of all, God’s Word clearly supports us having governing
authorities (Romans 13:1) and God’s Word gives us clear guidelines as to who to
elect for these positions. We should
elect officials who are wise, understanding, experienced, and who bear good
fruit (Deut. 1:13). During the primaries,
I was able to cast my vote confidently for a man that I felt upheld those
Biblical characteristics. However, the
people voted and their voices were heard and it was apparent that they were
looking for someone different. They were
looking for a much different kind of leader than I was. So what do I do now? Although, the circumstances were different in scripture, I believe God gave us clear instruction on what to do when the
people make a choice for a leader that isn’t necessarily what we desired. He tells us to “obey the voice of the people,
but warn them” (1 Sam. 8:6-22). So
whether or not I agree with the people, I feel it’s my Biblical duty to obey
the voice of the people and vote for one of the three final candidates. Once I had clarity on the fact that sitting
at home on election day was NOT an option based on God’s Word, I then began to
pray for wisdom on WHO to vote for!
Ecclesiastes 10:2 pointed me in the right direction! This scripture blew my mind! I don’t know why, but I guess I have always
thought that terms such as “the left” and “the right” were rather new political
terms! Little did I know that this was a
term the Bible addressed and God’s Word is very CLEAR as to which side we as believers
should stand for! I came across this
comparison chart below not long ago and found it helpful. It's just a glance at some of the major platforms, but you can find a more extensive comparison here.
As you can see, each of the candidates have differing
views on policies and tax plans.
However, as I go to the polls on election day, I will be choosing the
candidate that sides closest with what the Bible says. I will cast my vote for the candidate that is
pro-life because the Bible is (Gen. 1:27, Gen 1:28, Psa. 127:3, Exo. 20:13 just
to name a few). I will cast my vote for
the candidate that is pro-Israel because the Bible is (Psa. 122:6, Gen. 12:3,
Isa. 60:12 just to name a few). I will
be casting my vote for the candidate that will allow me to live in religious
freedom and not consider my sincere beliefs a crime. I will cast my vote for the candidate that
will nominate Supreme Court Justices whose “hearts are inclined to the right”
and will affirm and protect the laws written in the Constitution rather than create
new laws (Ecc. 10:2). There are many
important differences in each candidate’s policies and ones certainly worth
looking closely at, however, I believe the Bible gives clear direction for
believers on the views that we will be held accountable for. It is for these reasons, I will be voting for
Donald Trump in this 2016 Presidential election.
We need to be praying for our candidates. They need Jesus! We need to pray that the candidates will have
a teachable spirit and be willing to surround themselves with Godly men and
women for wise counsel. All it takes is
for a small seed to be planted and with the help and nurturing of the Holy
Spirit, hearts can and will be changed. With
God on our side, we can still be the greatest nation as “one nation under God”. Do not sit this one out fellow believers. Do not allow lies and name calling prevent you
from casting a vote. Look past the
person and look at the issues, especially those addressed in God’s Word. If we take a good look at God’s Word, I
believe we all can confidently cast our vote on election day without any
remorse or fear. And then in four years,
let’s do better! Let’s get it right in
the primaries and pick candidates that bear good fruit!!! Can I get an “Amen”?!
Love to you all!
Blessings!
