By Todd Paetznick, October 31, 2024

There is less than a week left before the US presidential election is over.  And I, for one, am ready for it to conclude.  I can’t wait for an end to the disruptions on television, in my mailbox, in my email, in text messages, at my front door, and in phone calls.  But through it all, I must remind myself that God controls the outcomes.  

Whose side is God on?  Is one candidate favored more by God because they are more righteous than the other?  Is the compassion of one candidate more important to God than the compassion of the other?  Was God responsible for saving the life of Donald Trump from an assassin’s bullet so that he could be the next president?  Has the mind of Joe Biden declined so that Kamala Harris could rise to lead this country and the world?   

God is on His own side.  His will will be done regardless of what any of us might prefer. 

As with the rise and fall of every other political leader in history, the outcome of this particular election remains in God’s hands.  He is sovereign; He remains in control, and the outcome of this particular election will be according to His will alone.  We may have a role in the voting process, but every small act, including how we vote, is orchestrated by God for the outcome He desires.  This fact should reduce the anxiety felt by God-followers.  We do not have to worry about what will happen because whatever happens will be how God wants it to happen.

Historically, nations have come and gone.  Humans are limited; we cannot see into the future.  No one can say with absolute certainty what will happen if one or the other candidate wins, whether there will be prosperity or tragedy.  The future is known to God alone.  Regardless of how everything unfolds, as God-followers, we can be confident that disaster or success is based on a human perspective, not God’s.  Because we cannot see the big picture and cannot know what God has planned for the United States or the world, the Kingdom of God may benefit more from the downfall of the United States than its success.  But I do not know this, and neither does any other human.  

Here’s what we know from the lessons in the Bible: we eventually get what we deserve and want.  God is patient.  But we can confuse His patience for apathy regarding our sin or the world’s condition.   Romans 1 highlights a problem when people think they know better than God; “God gave them up . . .” (Romans 1:24).  He gives people up to the outcomes of the actions they take to satisfy their desires.  He withdraws his hand of protection from around people and nations and lets them experience the result of their choices.  It happened before with the nations of Israel and Judah.  They each did their own thing and suffered the consequences.  The story is the same for the generations of people in the book of Judges, “. . . Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).  The selfish desires of the people led to their downfall.  

Where does the United States end up in the future?  What will happen after the election?  The future is not for us to know.  But God’s will will be done.  

What should we do?  Pray for each of our wills to be the same as God’s.  And go vote.