Outcome

We have now emerged from a critical and contentious election season.  Many have been somewhat immersed in the process; others went to the polls, faithfully cast their vote, and will carry on today as just another day.  And, many, perhaps over half of those eligible, did not cast a ballot.

I believe voting is important, but our walk with the Lord should be the most important thing in our
lives. Psalm 146 says:
3 Do not put your trust in princes, Nor in a son of man, in whom there is no help.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to his earth; In that very day his plans perish.
5 Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, Whose hope is in the Lord his God...

Politics should never ascend to a position greater than our devotion to Christ.  It can be very easy to look to human ability and ingenuity to sustain us, but for the Christian, we recognize that He is our source of strength, He gives us wisdom and direction, and He is supreme, no matter who occupies the White House or the U.S. House.  He wants to occupy our hearts and desires for us to build our lives on His foundation.

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In Daniel chapter 2, we read this passage that points to the sovereignty of God, the God who was at
work in the electoral choices that were made yesterday:
21 And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, And light dwells with Him.

Here are a few things that we know regarding yesterday's elections:

The big story is that we will now have a split makeup of the chambers of Congress. In the Senate, according to Real Clear Politics, Republicans have expanded their slim majority, and when it's all said and done, there could be as many as 54 Republicans in the Senate.  In Arizona, the Republican holds a slim lead.  And, in Mississippi, two Republican candidates combined to garner around 60% of the vote, with a runoff scheduled soon.  Democrat incumbents: Claire McCaskill in Missouri, Joe Donnelly in Indiana, Heidi Heitkamp in North Dakota, and Bill Nelson in Florida, were all defeated.  Democrats picked up the Senate seat in Nevada.

In the House, Democrats needed to pick up 23 seats to wrest control, and it looks like they took a minimum of 27, with some results outstanding; still just under 15 seats left to be decided, it seems.

Governors' races were less-than-rosy for Republicans.  Although Florida has sent Ron DeSantis to the governor's mansion and Georgia is still locked in a tight race between Stacey Abrams and Bryan Kemp, the Democrats finally got to Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and sent him packing.  Kay Ivey in Alabama handily defeated Walt Maddox.

Also, in Alabama, voters passed the religious freedom and pro-life amendments, according to WSFA.  And, Republicans continued to hold serve with all the statewide offices, many of which with somewhere in the neighborhood of a 60-40 split.

What do you take away from these results?

Well, you have to observe that nationwide, we have a divided nation ideologically.  That's no surprise. But, if the fractures continue to widen, Congressional leaders will be unable to move forward on meaningful legislation.  Not that Congress has been able to accomplish very much.  The cornerstone legislative achievement, the tax cut bill, was accomplished with plenty of blood, sweat, and tears.  But, there's been very little else out of the entire Congress.

Now, the Senate has been able to confirm two Supreme Court justices and a host of Federal judges with a constitutional philosophy who have been appointed by the President.  But, those who regard the President as having a successful first two years can point to his executive actions in reducing regulation, as well as his overall approach to the economy as the keys to the game.

Already, likely House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or some of her allies have telegraphed what the Democrats will do with the leadership in the House, although any actions to take substantive action against the President they oppose will be thwarted by a more Republican Senate.  Byron York of the Washington Examiner observes: "Trump needs the Senate to stay in Republican hands to keep his extraordinary line of judicial confirmations going. And now he has it."  He writes:

So far, the Senate has confirmed two Trump Supreme Court justices, 29 circuit court of appeals judges, and 53 district court judges. That is more than any other president in memory at this stage in his presidency. About one-sixth of the federal judiciary now consists of Trump nominees. Look for Trump and Senate GOP leaders to keep increasing that number.

But, on the House side, York observes:

Still, Trump cannot ignore the House, and certainly not a House that plans to bury him in subpoenas and might possibly try to impeach him. At the very least, Trump will have to beef up the White House counsel's office and prepare for battle each day with the new Democratic chairmen of key House committees -- House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, Judiciary Committee chairman Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Oversight Committee chairman Rep. Elijah Cummings, and others.

For the first few months of Democratic control, the biggest story out of the House might be an internal Democratic squabble as Rep. Nancy Pelosi tries to solidify support as Speaker. Along with that, there might be a spirited debate among Democrats about how much to pursue the president -- impeachment? -- versus pursuing a policy agenda.

But, get ready, special rights for individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity are on the menu for House Democrats. Faithwire reports:

House Democrats are promising to take action on major pro-LGBTQ legislation if they regain the majority in the midterm elections Tuesday.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said recently she would introduce anti-discrimination legislation — the “Equality Act” — as one of the first orders of business, should Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives.

The bill would expand the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which already bans discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion and nationality, to include discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation in places like retail shops, restaurants, realty, health care and social services, according to The News Tribune.

So, the main election night takeaways:

God is still in control.  That's the assurance from Daniel 2.  We can accept the electoral outcome as part of His sovereign plan and then craft our Holy Spirit-inspired response.  And, we can be reminded to pray for our leaders.  And, in all the social media chatter last night, this post from yesterday's Meeting House guest Michael Brown caught my attention:

The people have voted, but what is God doing in these elections? What is the Spirit saying to America? Beyond the vote, these are the questions I'm asking.

This is critical; we can be concerned with how the Lord is working, even in the policy arena, and respond as He directs.

Also, for the Christians who voted for President Trump for two important words, "Supreme Court," there will be more of the same.  Perhaps there will be another vacancy on the high court, but there is strong evidence that more constitutionalist judges could be on the way, which has strong implications for life and religious liberty. 

Was the election an affirmation or a rejection of the President?  I would say "yes."  As York points out, vulnerable Democrats who voted against his Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lost (Tester in Montana turned out to be an exception). And, while typically the party of the President loses seats in the House in a mid-term election, Mr. Trump certainly expended a tremendous amount of energy trying to prevent that and he fell a few seats short.  But, there was not widespread repudiation of the President's agenda.

There was seemingly a lot of energy from younger candidates and voters; but a number of them seemed to embrace a more socialistic agenda.  That is a problem, and something to watch.  Because socialism, while it sounds fair and equitable on the surface, as it's been pointed out, leads to an oppressive leadership structure that attempts to choose the winners and losers, the "haves" and "have-nots."  This should be a reminder to the Church that people need to be trained in solid Bible teaching that underscores personal responsibility and a limited role of government.  I think that the undercurrent of the proper role of government was at play in this election.

The immigration issue was on a lot of people's minds, and this is something we have to get right.  There are thousands that are advancing on the U.S. southern border with the intent to somehow force their way into this country.  I do not believe that this is a random occurrence.  We have to shore up our laws and recognize while we are a compassionate nation, we are a nation of laws.  And, people should not be allowed to break our laws or exploit our system.  This is an issue that has stirred up debate, even within the Church, and it's important that believers adopt a Biblical view on the issue.