Conundrum: A confusing and difficult problem or question.

I never really believed that there was such thing as an “undecided” vote for President….especially in the month of October.  But I have proven myself wrong.  I have found myself in the undecided camp.  In this blog I am going to offer a few thoughts regarding the upcoming election and I want to set the record straight before I get started.  I don’t want to fight – I don’t think I am right – in fact…I don’t really have a clue.  I am simply going to offer some perspectives that I feel the Lord has been weighing on my heart.

In light of full disclosure, I must tell those of you who don’t already know… that I lean right in the political spectrum.  No – wait.  That’s not altogether true.  I tend to walk crooked at a complete right degree angle.  I now respectfully ask my left leaning friends to cool your little jets and keep reading.  I don’t think that I am going to make you mad.  Let’s carry on…

I believe 1000% that there are believers on both sides of the political aisle.

I realize 1000% is a bit of an exaggeration but I do so love to exaggerate when I want to make a point.  While I walk with a crooked lean to the right I have many upstanding Christian and non-Christian friends who are tipped to the left.  This is very good.  We need checks and balances in our life to keep us honest and to challenge us to reconsider our positions.

For the first time in my life I have landed in the “undecided” camp and it has caused me to  be in a bit of a conundrum.  How can I vote for president of the United States when neither candidate who has a chance of getting elected is a person of character?  And how can I NOT vote when we have the freedom to vote and it is my right and my responsibility to do so?  And what would the Lord have to say about it?

My husband and I joined a Bible Study this year and we are studying the book of Isaiah.  It amazes me how the history presented in this book parallels our world today.  One of the things that has stood out to me is how the people in the days of Isaiah put their trust in kings rather than the Lord.  Reading Isaiah made me realize that my conundrum and my angst and my fear of voting for the wrong person reveals that I am putting too much trust in a “king”.  We cannot put our trust in kings or princes or presidents – we can only trust in the Lord.

“Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.
 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.
 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.”

Psalm 146:3-5

I find myself in a conundrum as I realize that I am putting too much emotional energy into worrying about the fact that I have no confidence in either candidate who is running for the president of the United States and at the same time realizing it is my duty to vote.  As I sit in my conundrum I remind myself that God is in control.

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart,
but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

– Proverbs 19:21

In the days of Isaiah there were good kings and bad kings.  There were kings who did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and there were kings who did nothing much right at all. And in both cases the Lord moved as He willed to accomplish His purpose.

So what does a right leaning or left leaning person do if they are found in a conundrum on the eve of this 2016 election?

For starters – as believers we should stop beating each other up and we should uphold one another based on the fact that we acknowledge that God is sovereign and Jesus is Lord.  God is extraordinarily creative and He created us all with unique experiences and perspectives.  It makes life interesting and it inspires us to take another look from another perspective.

So what am I going to do?  I am going back to the throne room.  I am going to sit at the Lord’s feet and ask Him what on earth a conservative girl like me should do.  Do I vote right – even though it does not feel right?  Do I vote left – even though it goes against some of my personal beliefs?  Do I vote libertarian and basically waste my vote in the real world?  Or do I vote for congress and refrain from voting for the president?

I do not see a good outcome for our election – I do not know how to vote and I do not know what to do. I am going back to the drawing board.  I am going to rid myself of my right leaning perspectives and ask the Lord, “Who shall I vote for?”

“We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” – 2 Chronicles 20:12b

I am also reminded that all men are flawed.  In the Bible we read that David (the guy who took down Goliath) was a murderer, a womanizer, an adulterer, and a wife stealer.  He was a flawed guy but God used Him for good and He turned out to be a great leader.  Our two candidates are flawed as am I.  Flawed guys/girls can change when they commit their lives to the Lord.  And flawed guys who refuse to change will be used by the Lord to accomplish His plan anyhow.

In my undecided conundrum I am going to sit at the feet of Jesus and ask Him – “Who?”  Only He knows the how…how He will accomplish His purpose with a flawed president.  I have seen how  He moves powerfully in my very flawed life and accomplishes His purposes in spite of me.

I am going to lay my opinions down at His feet and search for His clear answer.  It may be different from yours – but I will love you either way and I hope that you will find a way to love me too.

I will not put my trust in money, or things, or people, or political parties, or my perspectives, or people’s opinions, or careers, or the stock market, or health insurance, or in the outcome of the election.  I put my trust alone in the Lord Jesus Christ.  He knows the future and He will see us through.

Please…before you vote…sit at the throne of the Lord and ask Him one more time – “Who?”

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.”  Psalm 20:7