Election season is over for this year and while most everyone is happy to see the political signs taken down and their mailbox no longer filled with junk mail from the candidates, it is also a difficult time for some. At the end of each election cycle, there are winners and losers. Your candidate may not have won the election. You may have believed that they were “God’s man” for the job. Their campaign offered you a promise and hope in the future of this country. You may have believed that if this candidate would just be elected, our nation could be turned back to the right direction again. When your candidate didn’t get the votes, you may now be feeling that all is lost, there is no hope and you are crushed by the defeat.

It is easy to get lured into believing that the right candidate will make all the difference. It is tempting to pin our hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow on the right leadership in a public office. When we do that, however, we can be turned into hopeless victims the day after the votes come in. If this is your sentiment after the election, I’d like to share some thoughts about the nature of election outcomes and how we can respond biblically:

1. Election outcomes are INDICATORS of our spiritual condition – We must understand that ungodly candidates will garner the votes of a godless culture. Paul told Timothy that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13). It should be no surprise to us when a majority of people are voting for those who don’t represent God’s truth. The people in our culture are largely devoid of truth themselves. Spiritually speaking, things aren’t getting better.


2. Election outcomes are OPPORTUNITIES to increase our faith – Proverbs 21:1 tells us that “the king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” As believers, we know that God is in charge. We know that he is in control. We all know this verse gets trotted out during the election season and are probably tired of hearing it. However, do you really have faith and trust in God’s power to accomplish His will regardless of who is in office? When your candidate loses, it is time for you to reassess where you have placed your trust – in a political leader or in the God of the universe.


3. Election outcomes should MOTIVATE us for the gospel – If you believe that our country needs a change, then you must look to the only thing that offers true change in people’s hearts – the message of the gospel. Politics and good leadership might help the economy or make laws which are in line with God’s principles, but it can never change people’s hearts and it will never last for long. The political winds are always blowing in a new direction. In contrast, the gospel changes people’s lives as they trust in Jesus Christ as Savior. When Jesus sent out the seventy, he told them to “pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2). This was followed with the warning: “behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.” (Luke 10:3).

Is the harvest still out there for us today? Yes. More than ever people need the Lord. We need to be praying that God will send revival to our hearts, our churches, and our communities. We need to be working to spread the good news and praying that more will join us in this endeavor. If your candidate didn’t win and you feel all is lost, maybe you need to reassess where you have placed your hope. Jesus is your only answer and the only answer for our country. He is the eternal king. We must choose Him first and then go about the business of sharing His message of grace and redemption so that others will choose Him as well.