After reading the results of the Nevada caucus this morning, I’ve been trying all day to sort through my feelings about the whole thing. I’m not making much progress. I get too worked up about it every time I try.
I keep posting things about Trump on my Facebook account. And then two minutes later I delete them because I don’t want to be “that person” who posts political things, devoid of any context. I wish I could just not care and go on with my life without having to feel like I have to speak my mind.
I am a Christian. My one job is to love people. I should respect them even when they have a different opinion than me. And I’m trying hard to learn to accept people regardless of whether I agree with choices they make and the way they live their lives. But how do I respect someone’s “different choice” when I fear it would mean disaster for our country?
I have identified three people in my world who are voting for Trump. And I cannot – for the life of me – understand how anyone who loves Jesus Christ and all that he stood for, can want a leader like Trump. Nothing about the man resembles Jesus. Take an inventory of the character traits of Jesus and the character traits of Donald Trump … do they have anything in common?
I cannot wrap my brain around it.
Here’s a comment I left on a friend’s post today, which pretty much sums up my feelings:
I’m completely paralyzed with the dilemma of how to navigate this political mess. I’m distraught about the idea of Trump becoming president. I’m dumbstruck at how he continues to win. But I have NO idea what to do about it. I feel like I’m standing in front of a runaway train.
On the whole, I dislike Matt Walsh. I think he undermines his perfectly valid points (many of which I agree with) with his derisive, divisive and vitriolic way of expressing himself.
However, I think in this case, he got it right in addressing Trump supporters…
…you want a spectacle, not a solution. A celebrity, not a statesman. A circus performer, not a leader … you’ve accepted authoritarianism as a stand-in for strength.
Every state that Trump wins puts us that much closer to what CNN is already saying is the inevitable outcome: President Trump.
It’s absurd.
He is the complete opposite of a servant leader. He wants to build walls, not relationships. He is erratic and reactive. As president he would have the power to start a world war. He would hold the keys to our nuclear arsenal. We would literally be giving him the power to kill people. As a friend recently put it, Trump is just a crazy person. It would be like giving a monkey an assault rifle.
The thought terrifies me.
If Cruz and Rubio don’t get together NOW and decide which one of them’s going to drop out, Trump will win the nomination. Someone (whoever the bigger man is, I submit) is going to have to sacrifice his presidential bid for the greater good. But I suspect their egos won’t let them.
In 2003 Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor of California with 20% of the vote. That means 80% of voters were against him, but because they couldn’t all get on the same page, he won.
That seems to be what is happening here.
Recently I’ve been reading a book about joy … about changing my thought patterns. I’ve been trying to focus daily on being positive and thinking positive thoughts and not dwelling on the negative. This presidential race is challenging my resolve to focus on the positive because I’m having an extremely hard time finding the good in the thought of Donald Trump becoming our president.
Here’s where I take comfort…
There is a bigger story playing out. This is just a page in it.
I believe God is sovereign. He allows us to choose our leaders, and yet he is ultimately in control of who gets put in office.
But.
He doesn’t always swoop in and protect us from ourselves. Like the Israelites who insisted on a king despite God’s advice not to, God sometimes allows us to choose something that isn’t necessarily in our best interest.
And that’s my take on Trump.
These Words of Mine 
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