God Elected The President

By Bryan Ridenour
Guest author

It’s November 7^th

Another Presidential election has come and gone. And though Conservatives hoped for a different outcome, America now faces another four years of reckless spending and tip toeing around the Constitution. The last time I felt so sucker punched…post election…was in 1992 when incumbent George H.W. Bush lost to William Jefferson Clinton. Our college Republican club hosted an election night watch party in the student union; some of Bush’s opposition also joined, huddling together in small pockets around the spacious room. When it became apparent that Clinton won the presidency, shouting matches erupted in the commons area, something uncommon in our conservative Christian university. I dragged my roommate from the fray, both of us returning to our dorm room, discouraged. Now, 20 years later, the wounds of two decades ago split open once again.

But hope’s not lost…

Almost half of America voted for a more Conservative path. Sometimes, in our self-pity, we forget that others ascribe to morality and integrity because the voices that boo God ring much louder. An Old Testament Prophet once felt the same way. After experiencing an incredible victory against 850 false prophets, Elijah fled for his life, learning the Queen promised revenge. He whined to God about being all alone.  His grumbling triggers a line from a book I read decades ago,

“Nobody likes me, Everybody hates me. I think I’ll go eat worms.”

Discouraged, Elijah wished to die.

I’m thankful God allows us to vent our frustrations, understanding our humanity. After Elijah aired his grievances, God spoke to Elijah’s complaint.

“Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him.” I Kings 19:18

Do you hear that Elijah? You’re not alone. Seven thousand side with you and have yet to compromise! And America….Almost 50 million people voted against “booing God and Jerusalem.” Fifty million. That’s substantial. Does that mean all 50 million know Christ? No. But it does mean that half of the electorate shares many of the same values as Believers. We are not alone, even though the main stream media bends over backwards to sweep the voice of the moral majority under the rug.

Now here’s a truth we don’t talk about much. God elected the President…sort of. Daniel 2:21 says,

“It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings;”

Ouch. Yes, Americans slipped behind the voting booth curtains and voted, but ultimately God allowed President Obama to win re-election. He permitted Mr. Obama another four years, because Americans chose to cast aspersions at their Creator and choose a path of destruction and decay instead. (Almost sounds disciplinary, huh?) An identical scenario played out in the Old Testament when the Children of Israel determined that since other neighboring nations seated kings, they wanted to follow suit. They approached the prophet Samuel and demanded a king. I Samuel 8:6-7 shares,

“But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected it is me, as their king.”

God instructed the prophet to warn the people of the outcome of establishing a king in the verses following:

11 And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”

The people failed to heed the prophet’s warning, so God told Samuel

“Listen to them and give them a king.”

Unfortunately, those voting for an expansive entitlement society fail to grasp the inevitable future consequences. When the Government usurps the place of God in people’s lives, at some point the stark realization strikes that a gross error of judgment has transpired. In other words, they may

“cry out, and the Lord refuse to hear.”

Can you blame Him? When He’s booed, He’s obviously not welcome.

Here’s the good news: Though I know only snippets of eschatology, I believe this election cycle points to an ever closer return of Jesus. The signs of the times as prophesied throughout the pages of God’s Word are rapidly being fulfilled.

Christians…listen for the trumpet. Gabriel’s warming up…