Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”
Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured he cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”
In early October, I announced my candidacy for U.S. Senate, and included some of my thoughts in the following post:
Yesterday, I announced that I was ending my candidacy, and wanted to provide a few thoughts here about the Lord’s leading throughout this journey. This is a sliver of the whole story of God’s magnificence in this endeavor, but I wanted to capture and share these nuggets while they were still fresh in my mind and tender in my heart.
God called me to run this race. In spite of the long odds, I firmly believed that it was possible to win the election. I’m not stopping because I gave up that hope. After all, with Him all things are possible. I ended this portion of the race because I know that the Lord would have me to stop. It was a decision bathed in prayer and informed by wise counsel. As I told people constantly during this journey – we are responsible for the faithfulness, and God is responsible for the results. It is up to us to follow His direction, wherever that leads us, and it is His business to use it in whatever way He sees fit. I did my best to do my part, supported by an amazing team, and I fully trust Him to use it for His purposes that I may never know this side of heaven.
I embraced Hebrews 12:1-2 throughout this journey, with an emphasis on running the race while looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of my faith. We committed to running in the right way, regardless of the outcome. I described it as winning the campaign, something completely in my control. Winning the campaign meant that we would do it with honor and with integrity, while raising the level of the dialogue and inspiring, encouraging, and informing people along the way. We did our best to do so from beginning to end, and I firmly believe that we won the campaign for God’s glory.
It was an amazing journey and a season of my life that provided priceless opportunities to serve our great nation and our matchless Lord. This was not my season to become a United States Senator. But, I expect many more seasons left in my life; all of them are appropriate for faithfulness that is left up to me and results that are left up to God.
PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH FAITHFULNESS IN ALL THE SEASONS OF OUR LIVES. In our own contexts, may we run our races well and win the campaigns that God has assigned us.
