Duty is Ours, Outcomes Belong to God

Promoted with an !!! - KotM and edited for format by Steven-

I cribbed my title and my tag line from Mike Pence. He used this line in a letter to his colleagues that he posted on Human Events on 9-28-08. It was an eloquent letter explaining why he was not going to saddle our children with our mistakes. You can read it in its entirety here-

Why I Oppose the Bailout

This diary really isn't about Mike Pence though. It is about me and the angst I have gone through this election cycle. The angst of "how can this be happening? Is this really my country? Dear God, where are you in all of this? Can't you see what is happening? Can't the American people see? Please Lord, help us." Yeah, that angst. It leaves me with a pit in my stomach, a sense of outrage I haven't felt in years, and in the quiet of the night, at times, an uncontrollable sobbing mess.

Each day, I get on the net and look for that bright spot. Stupidly, I get encouraged about whitey tapes and API tapes and fake birth certificates. Those feelings pass quickly though as I do not wear a tin-foil hat. And frankly, that is not how I want us to win this election. So I continue to search. Monday, I happened upon a jewel that told me my search has not been in vain. The jewel was written by none other than poll-myth-buster, DJ Drummond. It can be found at his blog, Stolen Thunder.

God and the Election

His blog is a worthwhile read on any day, but last Sunday, he wrote a blog for all times. You must read it all. But I'll give you my favorite pieces.

"As a follower of Christ (though again I have to make clear that I am poor at the practice), the first precepts are to not judge the hearts of other people but merely their actions, to walk humbly and seek God’s will in all things, and to count freedom ahead of peace, justice ahead of freedom, and mercy above all of those other ideals."

Words we all know, but so often forget. And then there is this-

"...but even so I tell you plainly that America is a nation of believers in truth and light, and they do not hold with attacking ordinary citizens for asking inconvenient questions, they do not approve of a media which literally digs into trash to find tools to use to slime one candidate while ignoring legitimate inquiries into another’s character and actions. They do not forget history and they do not embrace the replacement of family and the individual with the government and the collective. Americans who fear God, do not forget duty. Americans who trust God, do not mock sacrifice. Americans who follow Christ, are not impressed with men who would replace God with their own image. Therefore, when we are presented with a situation where one candidate appears to be clearly in line with God’s will and the other major candidate would oppose that will, we must first test our assumptions, and if they hold true we must stand with the one who follow the Lord’s will."

Lastly from DJ, we are reminded that no matter what the polls say, we must do this-

"There will come a day, I believe, when we will stand before the Lord and have to account for all we have done, said, and even thought. It seems to me that it would be far better for me to explain why I supported a man whose actions were aligned with the Lord’s teachings, than why I stood by and deserted him when the campaign became difficult."

I know in the end, that no matter what the results of this election are, I will have stood firm as a Christian. I will have stood firm as an American. And when the day comes and I have to account for my vote, I can stand tall and say that I was on the side of good and did my best to defeat evil. And that I left the rest to the Lord.