I’m so excited that the elections are over. Election-2014And no, it’s not due to the election results. My excitement comes from no longer having to watch the ridiculous, and all too often slanderous, election commercials. I just don’t like to watch people point out the negatives about others instead of sharing what they’ll do to make a difference.

But the results are in and there’s no going back. So where do we go from here? There are two possible things going on in your mind/heart in this post-election reality. The first could be happy, and happiness might be an understatement for some. The happiness is that your guy or gal got the votes needed to get the position. But the flip side of this is also true. Many are upset and even angry that their candidate didn’t get it. So what do we do? Our anger or happiness won’t do much good.

In this post election time, it is our duty to live within the laws that govern our nation. And we’re to stand up for the things about which we believe. We are to make our voices heard and our opinions known on the issues that matter. This means that it’s acceptable to write to our congressional leaders to tell them how their constituents feel about the issues at hand. But there’s something more that Christians need to do. We can’t just stop with making our opinions known.

We must pray. We are called to pray for these newly elected leaders and the positions they hold. We’re to pray for the ones we like and the ones we don’t like. A friend of mine put it this way, We need to remember that each and every one of these individuals from the President on down, whether they realize it or not, are God’s servants because of the leadership roles the fill. Through them God moves in a hidden way through their vocations to bring His care and blessing to us so that we may live peaceful lives and so that we can express our faith in Jesus freely. 

So today we pray for our elected leaders. We pray for the ones for whom we voted and the ones against whom we voted. We pray for a unity of conscience and a unity of purpose as this country gets back on track for a future of amazing blessings. We give thanks to God for his mercy and goodness for when we mess up the creation he gave us. We give thanks for the process whereby our voices are counted in the elections. We give thanks for the results and ask God to hold his people in his hands as he has promised.