The Day After

I hope this isn't out of place, but rather than an article, I thought I would pass along my very grateful (yet tempered by some realities) heart as I went to bed election night.

I'm a political nut. I went to bed at 4am tremendously grateful to God for several things:

• Grateful to be an American where the people still have the say and an elite ruling and media class are unable to overcome the wisdom of the Founders. I LOVE OUR CONSTITUTION.

• Grateful that people will lead our country who, while they might not embrace all of my morals, will let us live "quiet and peaceful lives" - a very biblical desire. I will pray for President Trump and cheer him on in righteousness and good policy, respectfully oppose him in unrighteous or Constitutional overstepping, and advocate with my elected officials for policies that I believe lead to the flourishing of my family, my church, and my neighbor.

• Grateful for local representatives that I am confident in and who do embrace my morals and lead with courage.

• Grateful that abortion expansion was defeated in Florida, and for the courage of Ron Desantis to fight for life and for the pastors in Florida who rallied believers in the face of being tremendously outspent.

• Grateful, (you don't know how grateful I am for this), that the presidential election was decisive, and that there won't be a drawn-out, energy-sucking, spiritual-focus draining obsession with civil unrest or stopping a steal.

• Grateful that the Supreme Court won't be packed, overturning an almost century and a half norm.

• Grateful that the filibuster will continue in the Senate, an important mechanism for protecting the rights of the minority.

• Grateful that the Electoral College will not be the bogeyman and threatened for the next four years.

• Grateful that common sense wins the day.

I also went to bed very sober about some things:

• We've a long way to go on protecting children in the womb. The Republican Party has abandoned the issue on a national level. I am grateful though that we won't be trying to nationalize murdering children in the womb until birth. Let's fight state by state to protect the most innocent among us.

• LGBTQ+ issues are a very mixed bag - Transgenderism has been pushed back on. Every transgender person is an image bearer of God and deserves our compassion, but good and righteous thinking means we fight for the creative order as God made it - including protecting girls and women from men pretending they are women and who will harm them by coming into their spaces. It is also true that the Republican Party and its leaders have abandoned any attempt to define the nuclear family in terms that are consistent with natural law and biblical principles, embracing what is contrary to nature. We can't give up persuading people with the truth and helping those harmed by the LGBTQ+ movement.

• This is not a spiritual revival that happened. The church is faced with a wicked culture that is still slouching toward Gomorrah and deserves the judgment of God. Now is not the time to rest - we must use our "quiet and peaceful" reprieve to press on in making disciples, preaching the gospel, living the gospel, and being lights in the middle of a dark culture.

• And finally, we must remember what a tremendous blessing and gift it is to be free. This is unusual, especially from a religious liberty aspect, in the history of the world. If we do find ourselves under wicked leaders again who disdain us and we do lose some of the beauty of this American experiment, we must remember our God is sovereign, good, and working for the good of his people. We're merely pilgrims here. But my goodness, blessed pilgrims to live in this great land.

My big hope is that the 2028 election will end up being only the 5th or 6th most important election of my lifetime. :-)