One of the most important elections in the world this year has just concluded. The results are out and there are winners and losers, as happens with every election.
My friend Dickens Olewe recently did a story (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54297372) which covered voices of African Christians who were praying for a Trump win.
Definitely, these African Christians must be disappointed with the US election results. I know of some who still believe that Trump will be sworn in as the 46th president in January 2021.
Elections can be very emotional and they cause trauma to those who lose. It is most frustrating for those from Africa and Kenya who were praying for a Trump win but who cannot do anything to salvage the situation.
This outcome forces us as Christians to ask some tough questions, one of them being, where was God when Trump was losing? Or what was God doing while Biden was “stealing” the elections, as some Christians have claimed?
Many Christians have, since the election of Trump in 2016, claimed that Trump is a candidate from God. They believe that He is God’s agent against the forces of darkness, in the US and in the rest of the world.
So what has changed? Has Trump, a Republican candidate, stopped being God’s agent for stopping the forces of darkness represented by his main opponent, Joe Biden, a Democrat?
I know it is a painful reality for Republicans and Christian supporters of Trump in the USA and in other parts of the world. This situation has not been made any better by preachers who are still prophesying that Trump is going to win, even when the results are showing otherwise.
Has God cheated those who were hoping for Him to give Trump victory over Biden?
Well, God is God and He is not obligated to answer every request from the people He created. God cannot please everyone and will only do what He knows is good for mankind. He alone can see into the future. Human beings, on the other hand, are limited and sometimes do not even know what is good for themselves. And I don't mean to offend anyone by this statement!
Let us look at the Bible to find if there are lessons to help us make sense of the situation.
In 2 Chronicles 36:22-23, God anointed Cyrus king of Persia to rebuild the temple that had been destroyed in Jerusalem. Cyrus was a pagan king yet God called Him 'His anointed vessel' to accomplish His purposes.
What am I getting at? I am saying that God, because of His sovereignty, can decide to use whoever He wants to use to accomplish His purposes. The sovereignty of God will sometimes go against the expectations of human beings.
For those who might be traumatized by the Biden win in the US elections, I am certain that all is not lost. After all, politics is not the end and purpose of our being. God is in control and knows all that is happening. God has an agenda for the whole world. And at the end of the day, God’s agenda will prevail.
Jesus said in Matthew 16:18: “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (ESV).
In spite of everything that has happened, God is still seated on His throne. He is not in a panic that the Democrats have won in the US and so things will get out of hand. A win or a loss for Republicans will not elevate or diminish Him.
Looking at the just ended elections from another perspective, one thing that has come out for me is that one may have a good product but the face of the product can be a put-off. The Republicans have a good agenda which resonates with what many Christians believe, in as far as family values and the sanctity of human life is concerned.
My suspicion is that voters were repulsed by the face of a salesman of a very good product that was offered by the Republicans! It is said that Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I love your Jesus, but not your Christians!”
To respond to my earlier question, I would say that God has not cheated those who were hoping for a Trump win. He knows the beginning and the end of every matter. Human beings can only see a glimpse of what God is doing.
Life is not just about us, but it is about God’s purposes. God sees the big picture.
What has happened did not catch Him by surprise. He uses even the bad things that happen in our lives to accomplish His purpose. His will shall ultimately prevail, the results of the election notwithstanding.
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