Let me start with two things before you yell at me –

1) You are no way entitled to agree with me. You may not think I’m correct, or that my thoughts are too strong. That’s okay. We can agree at the end of the day that Jesus is who He says He is. That He died on the cross because He loves us. We are broken people in need of grace. Everyone. (Even if it’s really hard and I need grace in showing grace.)

2) God really does have this. As someone who trusts fully in God, I’m not saying somehow God lost control. That’s not possible. Realistically, I don’t even think God cares too much about the election. He cares about hearts. And he can redeem any situation. I’m not arguing with that. God is God and who are we to ever imply He’s not going to make it all work for HIS glory (not American glory, but His).

However – the Christian community should be mourning. We should be acknowledging pain, listening to those who are going to be suffering in the future both in the States and abroad , and ultimately standing in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who experiencing immense fear for their safety.

Let me explain. I am a 23 year old, white, blonde, able bodied, middle class, female with healthcare. Realistically – my life is not going to change much due to this election. I do not have much to fear in my own personal life. This is something called, “Privilege”. Some of you are already cringing, but this is important. Privilege is defined as a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group. Using my list above, I am filled with privilege. Other than being an extremely sexist president which hurts me personally, there will probably be no law that is going to pass that effects me in a direct way. So it could be really easy for me to say, “God’s got this” because I am not in fear of anything. My privilege protects me from having to face anything dangerous. In which case “God’s got this” looses it’s meaning because there is nothing you need protection from (I mean, everything. We need God in every moment. I’m speaking about this election specifically).

We need to mourn, together, as a community with our brothers and sisters who are in fear. There are very serious things that could happen to them – as history has shown. We have elected a man that preaches hate, separation, and fear. It’s not just Donald I’m afraid of, it’s what he represents. We have opened a can of worms in America – Racism is real. Sexism is real. Classism is real. Homophobia is real. Sexual assault is not taken seriously. The list continues. For example: people feel they can now yell racist slurs at my university at non-white people because “Trump is now our president”. We need to mourn the fact that people approve of ‘hate’ and think it’s something that should be and can be publicized.

We need to start with recognizing what systems we benefit from (our privilege), and come alongside our friends who don’t have the same protection because of our skin color, or who we want to marry, or how much money we make.

Jesus preaches immensely about being with the people not in power. (Unprivileged people). In John 8 when the “religious folks” were about the stone the adulterous women – Jesus stood with her and spoke out against hypocrisy. He didn’t say, “Well, this is really none of my business. That’s her issue to work out.” No Jesus stepped up, and in a passive way and asked them if any of them had broken the law. And if any of them hadn’t, they were welcome to throw the stone in their hand. One by one they walked away. None of us are perfect. This is Jesus’s point. There is no “Make America great again” because we’re human. It’s can’t be great. Jesus’s standards of perfection are SO high, that we can’t achieve greatness. Then – Jesus (the only perfect human) could have chosen to throw the stone. He had not broken any religious law. And instead, he gently turns to the women and tells her she is free to go. He tells her to turn away from her adulterous relationship, but He is not here to throw any stones. Grace is extended. Jesus never looked at the woman about to be stoned and say, “Hey, don’t worry about it! It’ll all be okay. God’s always got a plan. I’m going to keep walking but good luck.” He stood in solidarity with her – stayed with her.

So, friends, we need to figure out how to stand with the people who need us. We need to let voices be heard who are in those states of fear. We need to empathize in the best way we can with people who need hope. I don’t really have answers for this. I just know is starts with dialogue. It starts with talking to people who are different from  you. It starts with asking questions.

Somehow, I know God’s glory can be shown in this situation. God redeems all. But God is a lot more concerned about individual hearts rather than this nation. There are many unknowns for me today, but one thing I know for sure that isn’t going to help is stepping on real pain and saying “it’s gonna be fine”. Help them see it’s going to be fine by walking with them, and pointing to Jesus during the process.

And y’all, pray for me that I can show grace to all people. I’m having a hard time with that right now. That’s my prayer for all of us. Thanks.