What if...

It is election night. I love election night (even if I am really missing Tim Russert and his white board). The air. The excitement. The upsets. The victories. It is almost as good as March Madness.

I live in a very Republican area. It is hard to be a democrat or independent and a Christian in this area. I have been told that if you are not a Republican, you really can't love God. So, on this historical evening, the emails have already started. The conspiracy theories. The critical comments. The calls for lawsuits against the process. There is a lot of defeat for many people I know tonight. But part of me wonders.

What if as children of God we chose to pray for our president - no matter who that is? ...as Christians we chose to honor our president? ...as those with the greatest hope in the world, we chose to respect and submit to our president?

What if God is trying to do something BIG? What if God has a plan that is miraculous by human standards? What if this is the man that God has appointed for His purposes and to glorify His name? What if we are called to pray, and love and show grace? What if this is the perfect candidate in God's perfect plan for this moment? What if...

What do you do in the morning when your candidate has lost the big election? What do you do when your candidate has won the big election? You pray. You pray for wisdom and discernment. You pray for courage and strength. You pray for humility and a servant's heart. You pray for God's name to be glorified - not a man or a country's. You pray for your president. You pray for your vice president. You pray for the house and the senate and the cabinet. You pray for the staff and the pages, the assistants and administrators. And you pray that God will make you the servant that He wants. One who is will to honor authority - even when that authority is not your chosen man. Because in the end the cliche is still true. God is still God. He is still sovereign. He still appoints leaders.