As most of you know I have been an Election Worker for the past several elections. It has been an experience to see our political process in action and how many take their voting rights seriously.
As a small town in a rural county in south Texas, our church Fellowship Hall is used as a voting location. While we do see our share of voters, it has never been a great number. Our total has rarely been more than 200. I think we hit 215 once, for the 2016 presidential election.
This year was a different story. The minute we opened the doors at 7 AM we had a line. That 215 was hit by lunchtime. It kept us Workers on our toes. While it did come in waves, we were swimming when it did. And sending us only four machines when they were supposed to send us six didn’t help.
It was about ten when we realized we were going to exceed our normal target. We all wagered what our final number would be. One said 300, another 475, I said 325. And the people kept coming…when we closed the doors at 700PM our final tally was 390, nearly double what our normal rate would be.
Working through this I couldn’t help but think, why are people voting? Many of the ads were pushing people into fear. If you vote for this person, this will happen, or this won’t happen. You will lose this, and you will be without that. That person is bad, bad, bad. Hsssssssssss.
There is something we must understand as Christians. Whoever sits in the Oval Office has little control over who sits on the throne. God is in control of all things. It does not matter who wins, red or blue, right or left, green or purple, God is on his throne and while it may be difficult for us to understand, it will be for his purpose that they are in their place of power.
So, regardless of who wins the White House, we need to honor and respect them. The phrase “not my president” should never leave our lips. Honor them. Respect them. And most of all pray for them.
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” – Romans 13:1
Moments for the Heart 