I went to bed early last night with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that the man for whom I had voted for President was not going to win. I started watching election coverage at 5:00 yesterday, and by 8:00, when the polls in less than 15 states had closed, I had had enough. I just didn’t feel I could take anymore.

I did not see President-Elect Obama’s acceptance speech, nor did I see Senator McCain’s concession speech. I have heard that both were gracious and eloquent.

When I awoke this morning, the sick feeling in my stomach had not left. Even before I went to my computer to check the outcome on the internet, I already knew in my heart how it had turned out.

I lay in my bed for a few moments and asked God, “He won, didn’t he?” God’s gentle reply was, “Yes, my child, he did, but I am still in control.”

With those calming words, I arose to face the day. I wish I could tell you that I immediately felt buoyed by God’s gentle reminder, but the truth is, I still felt sick at heart.

I went downstairs to have my quiet time, and I couldn’t even think how to pray. This hasn’t been a problem for me over the last few weeks, as God has been showing me exactly how He wanted me to pray for the election and our country. This morning, I felt stymied, though, and so, instead, I simply prayed, “Holy Spirit, please intercede on my behalf because I have no words this morning.”

As the morning wore on, the sick feeling began to dissipate somewhat. I continued to pray and ask God to help me. I visited the blogs of several Christian speakers/leaders whose counsel and wisdom I respect to see what they had to say about the outcome. I highly recommend reading Lysa TerKeurst and Beth Moore’s posts. They both have summed things up much better than I ever could.

Still, I would like to share what God has shown me today. I woke up this morning knowing the outcome and feeling heavy-hearted. I wanted to trust that God was still in control regardless, but what I knew in my head, wasn’t quite resonating in my heart.

God is faithful, though, as always. He has used blog posts, a devotion, a video, and I’m not even sure what else to speak to my heart today and lift my spirits.

A couple of the blog posts, I have already mentioned above. In the devotion I received today was this quote by Corrie ten Boom: “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” How true. How true. Then, there was this video, linked to on Marybeth Whalen’s blog:

It was in the video that I was reminded of 2 Corinthians 5:7: “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” (New American Standard)

For reasons I can not understand, nor do I have to, God allowed Barack Obama to be elected. He was not surprised by this. Before the dawn of time, He knew this day would come.

My eyes tell me this should not be, but my faith in the One who is still seated on the throne trusts that this, too, has a purpose. Therefore, I will stand today on God’s Word that says that I walk by faith and not by sight.

In standing on God’s Word, I must also follow His command in Romans 13:1: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

With that in mind, I realized that my prayers today are actually no different than what God has been prompting me to pray for over the past several weeks. I will pray for President-Elect Obama. That God will give him wisdom and discernment. That he will be protected from attacks by our enemies. That he will receive wise counsel from those closest to him. That his family will be protected. And that in those matters where his stances do not line up with God’s Word, that his heart will be changed.

President-Elect Obama is not an enemy. He is a child of God, the same as I, and God loves Him the same as He loves me.

I will continue to pray for our country. That we will turn our hearts and minds back to God.

Those who love the Lord have the same job to do now, post-election, as we did pre-election. Pray.

May we wear holes in the knees of our pants together.

Sweet Blessings,