I did get out to vote during that election. Some of the people I voted for won their election, but some of the people I voted for did not win.

So now, a few months later, I am frustrated by the people in office. The incumbent mayor—who won back his position—is an avid bicyclist. He has received enough votes from the city council to begin a major project which involves widening a road and installing sidewalks so he can institute a citywide bicycle race. The project cost millions of tax dollars, dollars I feel could be better spent.

I complained and fussed to my husband and my neighbors about what I considered to be a waste of money. But God, the very next Sunday, brought to my attention the responsibility I have to my elected officials: to pray for them.

God puts our elected officials in place. No matter if we voted for them or not, agree with their politics or not, or even like them or not, He commands us to pray for them. It’s another way to demonstrate our belief that God is sovereign over everything that happens here. Election results, whether they gladden us or make us despair, do not catch God by surprise. And we must always remember that our God can change the hardest of hearts and make them His own, for the good of all of His people.