When I Can't Vote For Either Candidate, What Am I To Do?
I never thought this could happen. Last year, when Donald Trump began his candidacy, I was sure he would implode. As his bombastic and unsubstantial remarks multiplied, I was sure people would wake up. But I was wrong, and he is the Republican candidate. The revelations this week of his comments in the past, while not surprising, only emphasize his lack of character.
When I look at my option on the other side of the aisle.....it is just as unthinkable. I cannot vote for a pro-abortion, pro-big government candidate. Hillary Clinton has so much baggage from Benghazi to emails to the mafia-like mindset of the whole Clinton political machine. How is it possible she is the Democrat candidate?
What will I do?
I find myself in the doldrums, wondering what will become of my country and how we will ever survive. I grieve that the judgement our country so deeply deserve seems to have arrived.
What am I to do? How will I vote? Why should I not just throw up my hands and give up hope?
Instead of giving up, I have looked to Scripture to find another plan.
1. I Will Put My Hope In God
I am not going to give up hope because my hope is not in a candidate or a political party or any other transitory system put in place by man.
“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!”
God has bigger things going on than just the 2016 USA Presidential campaign. No matter who sits in the Oval Office next January, God is still in charge. No matter who that President appoints to the Supreme Court, God is still Judge of the Universe. I will hope only in Him.
As much as I grieve my choices this election cycle, I have work to do for His Kingdom. That doesn't change, even if our country seems to be careening toward a long drop off a high cliff. There is NO external circumstance, whether national or personal, that should alter my hope in God.
2. I Will Look For God's Future and God's Hope
Just because a verse is overused or used out of context, doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply here. In fact the following verse applies now more than ever.
“‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.’”
Do you know when God gave this promise to His people? Jeremiah 29:10 (the verse before this one that is never on greeting cards or posters) tells us. God gives these words right before He allows His people to be taken into captivity for 70 years! The future He is planning for them is seriously in the future- 70 years in the future. Most of the people who receive this promise will never see its fulfillment. But their children and grandchildren will.
I identify with this long-term view. What will the United States look like seven decades from now? Will I even be able to recognize this country that was founded for religious freedom? Will the freedoms fought for in our Bill of Rights still stand?
I do hope so. But in reality, my future and my hope are not in the good 'ole US of A, rather my hope is in God. What lies ahead for myself, my children, and my grandchildren rest in His hands.
So for now...
3. I Will Call Upon, Pray To, and Seek and Search For God. And I Will Find Him.
This is God's prescription for the long haul. Just read Jeremiah 29:12-14. As the Israelites head down the road to Babylon with Jerusalem in the rear view mirror, God gives instructions so they will be prepared when that promised future and hope show up.
“‘Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. ‘I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD... ”
The only place I will find hope and a future is in the Lord who wants to be found. As of now, when so much lies uncertain, I will pray to the One Who knows the long-term plans.
Who Will I Vote For?
I still struggle to decide. I try to think of the future Secretaries of State, Education, Treasury, and the rest who make so many policies in our country. Maybe if I ignore the presidential candidates I can base my votes on who that candidate will appoint to these key policy positions. But even that does not give me hope.
I know I only have three weeks left, but I leave my decision for another day.
For today, I will stare my discouragement and sadness in the face and declare to their loud voices moaning in my head, "My future and my hope are in His hands. So sit down and be quiet because I have work to do."
For now that is enough.