I went to sleep last night not 100% sure, but assuming that I would wake up to the news that Donald Trump was the President Elect of the United States.  I was correct.  What I didn’t expect is that I’d be up at 4am-8am writing a post about it.  Somehow between midnight and 4am I woke up a few times with the phrase “Looking for a David, Not a Saul”.

By 4am I couldn’t go back to sleep so, I decided to get up and check the election results.  If Hillary had won, then the phrase wouldn’t make sense since her campaign didn’t emphasize any religious beliefs whereas Donald Trump did choose to make his religious beliefs as a Christian a part of his politics.  When I saw that indeed my bedtime assumption was correct and Donald Trump did indeed win the electoral vote I began writing.

To be honest I went to sleep with an uneasy feeling thinking that Donald Trump was going to be the President.  I don’t know where his heart is and that makes me nervous.  Many people are scared because they see him as not capable of managing the position of President since he doesn’t have political experience, but I think you shouldn’t underestimate a man who has been successful enough in life to fund his own presidential campaign and gain the vote.

Just like Trump, I’m not the right person to be writing about the US elections. To start off.  I’m Canadian.  I’m not a political analyst.  I’m an author, speaker and Soul H2O blogger of devotions.  Not quite the credentials of a political writer but, I’m not writing to analyze the elections. I am writing to awaken the conscience of the continent of North America and somehow the conscience of Donald Trump to understand how pivotal his role as leader of our Continent is in this time.

I thought Trump’s campaign slogan “make America great again” was compelling.  Many have understood this to mean how America was during his childhood.  Although it was a more financially sound America, although a more church-going nation then, it was not the best America back then and is not the America needed today.  The thoughts of going back to an America of yesteryear brings fear in many people.

I was saddened when I searched online to find the results of the election and watched a video clip of Van Jones titled “How Do I Explain This To My Children”.¹   Jones describes the election as “a whitelash” and states his fear along with the fear of many Americans of Trump bringing America back to a time of racism.  I then read another piece about this same fear in a Huffington Post article.²

Stories like these break my heart. As a Christian I know there is a better way.  You see,

[tweetthis]Christ includes, not excludes. #USA #Election Results[/tweetthis]

God is no respecter of persons⁴. EVERYONE is created in the image of God⁵.  God values us all the same.  Under His leadership, there is no racism.

Recently, I made a comment under Lecrae’s Huffington Post article The Pains of Humanity Have Been Draining Me³ on the issue of racism and shared it on my personal Facebook page.  I began my comment with these words, “as a pasty white chick it breaks my heart to hear how unfair life is for people of other skin tones. It just shouldn’t be. I wish I could do more to change it”.  My role to help bring about change is formulated in my speaking and in my writing.  So this is why I write, even when I don’t have the credentials to do so.

I recognized that I started getting sidetracked looking up articles on the election and then I stopped.  I didn’t get up at 4am to write an article on what people thought about Trump as President or the State of the Union.  I would be sleeping right now if I thought that is what the article should be about.  I am willing to lose sleep in order to write a post about the topic that woke me in the first place because:

[tweetthis]In North America, we’re Looking for a David, Not a Saul. #USA #Election #Government [/tweetthis]

As this phrase kept waking me up, I thought of the difference between David and Saul as leaders of their nation. Both men were appointed by God in their position.  Both men started off well.  Only one man finished well.  Only one man fulfilled the call of God on his life in leading the people as God intended.

Acts 13:36 says that “David had served God’s purpose in his own generation”.

In Old Testament times a nations leader was recognized by the Spirit of God on their life, oh how we need that today.

1 Samuel 16:14 describes that “the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul”

when he was leader of the nation of Israel, and

I Samuel 13:13-14 explains a little why, “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” NIV

David led well because he was a man after God’s heart.  David wasn’t perfect, he didn’t do everything right by a longshot, but he did do what God had purposed for him to do in his generation because his heart was bent towards God’s heart.  It’s been a long time since a leader’s term would be written about as having completed what God wanted them to do.

During the voting reports last night one of the panelists said that the Christian vote was the strongest it had been in a long time and commented how churches were showing videos encouraging voting.  Christians have made a loud statement to Washington.  They have given Donald Trump the mandate to lead their country and as a confessed Christian, to lead it under God’s direction.

Acts 13:21-22 makes clear that God is in control of Governmental appointments.  God’s overall plan for mankind is at work, no matter who the leader is.  These verses also make it clear that it is the discretion of a leader to follow after God’s purpose for his life and leadership or to fall into the sin of Saul.

“Then the people begged for a king, and God gave them Saul… But God removed Saul and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.” Acts 13:21-22 NLT

I’m praying that Donald Trump desires to leave a legacy of Godly leadership and truly “make America great”.  If he chooses to have the heart of David and rely on the Lord for guidance, America will be a great nation now, not again.

I was impressed by Donald Trump’s victory speech.  It was the humblest of acceptance speeches that I remember from a leader of a nation.  He honored Hillary Clinton for her role in the election and her service to their country.  I hope it has quelled the fear of many that he is only the president for a select few.  I pray he lives up to his statements and includes as Christ would.

I was shocked to see such a calm, humble Donald thanking so many for their part in the victory.  There was no air of pride in his words.  No sense of “I did this on my own, I deserve this”.  No heart of Saul.

Mr. Trump, I pray for you.  I implore you, to fulfill the purpose of God for your life in your own generation.  I ask you to allow the truth of these verses to guide your heart, your life and your leadership as the President of the United States.

May these scriptures guide you as you lead.

Proverbs 17:19 NLT
Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin; anyone who trusts in high walls invites disaster.

Proverbs 16:18 NIV
Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling.

Proverbs 18:12 NIV
Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, But humility goes before honor.

In His Grip,

Sherry Stahl

Footnotes

1. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2016/11/09/van-jones-emotional-election-results-sot.cnn
2. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ibram-x-kendi/would-a-president-trump-m_b_10135836.html
3. https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/i-declare-black-lives-matter_us_5808be36e4b0dd54ce385412?fb_action_ids=10154658276416085&fb_action_types=og.comments
4. Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11
5. Genesis 1:27

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