By: Steve Wilmot
In less than a week, either Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will be elected as the 47th President of the United States.
How does that make you feel? Angry? Depressed? Afraid? Worried?
To be honest, each of those emotions leaves God out of the equation. To be afraid, worried, depressed, or angry would be a natural response to the upcoming election except for one thing: God’s got this. He is in control.
He will keep his promises no matter who sits in the Oval Office.
His plans for America and for each of us will still go on according to his schedule. The man or woman who assumes the presidency will not and cannot stop what God has ordained.
“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.
’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do” (Isaiah 46.10-11).
Isaiah prophesies that God will find a man from a far-off land to fulfill his purpose. Not an Israeli. Not a good guy. Not a believer. Not a man the nation would choose.
And God will choose a person like that to take the leading role as the most powerful person in the world to fulfill his purpose.
Can God work through evil, ungodly, immoral people? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
He made evil Nebuchadnezzar, king of one of Israel’s enemies, the ruler over Israel. Note what he calls him in these verses: “Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control. All the nations will serve him…” (Jeremiah 27.6-7).
God calls this ungodly man “my servant.” He will be God’s servant even if he doesn’t acknowledge God as his God. Even if he fights against God’s purpose. Even if he doesn’t know he’s God’s instrument. God will use him to fulfill his purpose.
What does this have to do with us and the next president? President Trump or President Harris will be God’s servant whom he will use to accomplish his purpose.
As unbelievable as that may seem, that’s what the Bible says. God is still in control, and he’ll use the man or woman we put into office by our vote.
Whether we agree with his or her policies; whether he or she steers us in ways we believe are the wrong direction, God is still in control.
He will turn the heart of the president wherever he pleases — “The heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord; he turns like a watercourse wherever he pleases” (Proverbs 21.1).
Do you trust God to do that regardless of who becomes president?
See that? In the same way that men can redirect a stream of water, God can redirect the heart of the president. He will guide it wherever he pleases.” The president is not really in control. God is working through him or her to accomplish his purpose. God is still in charge!
Presidents and congressional leaders cannot throw off the power and authority of God over our nation. All around us these days we see biblical morality under attack.
There are those in positions of power who are trying to remove all traces of God and morality from the nation. And it seems like we’re losing the battle.
But friend, take heart. God is still in charge. He hasn’t been defeated. He hasn’t been overthrown. Listen to this if you doubt me:
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles’” (Psalm 2.1-3).
Sound familiar? Make you think of America in 2024? How does God respond? Does he surrender? Is he panicked by their threats?
“The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them” (Psalm 2.4).
Why? Because he is still in control no matter who is elected president and who controls the House and the Senate. He is still in control no matter who sits on the Supreme Court and the lower courts.
His purpose will be accomplished no matter what! So go out and vote next Tuesday. Look at what each candidate stands for, and how closely it parallels God’s Word.
And when the winner is declared, don’t let anger or worry or depression steal your faith in God. God’s got the future either way.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.