Beat Election Anxiety: 5 Keys to Use

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Maybe it’s always this way, but this year’s election seems even more polarizing than usual and election anxiety abounds. We are concerned about what the next four years will bring, what kind of country our children will be growing up in, how it will affect our family.

 At this point, the votes are cast, and the only thing left to do is wait for the results to be tallied. When I woke up this morning to see the results still not in, I knew it was time to share what God has been speaking to my own heart for the past few weeks.

He’s been showing me five keys to beat the election anxiety.

1. Remember Who God Is

He is the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end. Both candidates are mere mortals who have a finite number of days to live and even fewer of days remaining in their lives in which they will greatly impact this earth. Neither of them can hold a candle to the One True God who created this world out of nothing, and will reign for all eternity. Spend some time remembering who God is to beat election anxiety.

 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)

“Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to lie in.” (Isaiah 40:21-22)

“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off it’s dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?…Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place? (Job 38:4-5, 12)

2. Recognize God is in control.

If God can lay the foundations of the earth, create a plethora of animals and plants in every shape and size, design humans with the ability to reason and love, is he not big enough to handle the next four years?  Is it the Republicans or Democrats who save us? Is it the blue or the red who set the foundations of the earth or cause the wind to blow or the rain to fall? To beat election anxiety recognize God, not man, is the one in ultimate control.

“He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground than he blows on them and they wither and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. (Isaiah 40:23-24)

“…Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever, wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons, he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. (Daniel 2:20-21)

3. Choose to trust God.

If recognizing God is in control is the head’s work, choosing to trust him is the heart’s work. We must choose to trust that even if the results don’t go the way we want, God’s ways are higher than our ways. Four years does not equal eternity. Is God not able to use even what we may see as bad for his glory? Is he not able to strengthen and grow his people through trials and hardship? Is it not time to stop putting faith in mere men and start putting our trust in the God who created them? Trusting God is a huge step to beat election anxiety.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” (Isaiah 28:3-4)

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”  (Psalm 28:7)

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9)

4. Read truth.

Commentary runs constantly barraging our minds with other people’s thoughts, hypothetical situations, and various scenarios. That is the nature of election seasons and the media that makes its money off keeping us watching and coming back for more. Instead of spending all of your time watching the news, hitting refresh, or scrolling the feeds, take time to immerse yourself in scripture. Go time and again to scripture to remind you of the first two keys to beat election anxiety—who God is and God is in control—so that your heart can trust in him.

Read the stories of how God moved in the Old Testament. Read the stories of how God sustained his people in the tough times. Read of his great love for all people. Bible Gateway or Youversion are great places to read online if you don’t have a paper Bible handy or just prefer to read on the screen.

“For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

5. Live life and love people.

No amount of watching, reading, or analyzing will change what the outcome of the election. You can fret enough to beat election anxiety. The time spent fretting away in front of the screen isn’t going to change the outcome, but that time will be gone. We cannot get the time back we waste worrying about something we can’t change. So take a cue from Frozen and “Let it go.” Turn the TV off, get off social media, and let what is going to happen happen. Go ahead and check in every so often, but don’t let it consume the precious hours of this day.

Love your family well. Invest the time you might have spent watching for the latest poll updates in them. Play a game, go for a walk, watch an uplifting movie together. Have conversations that point your children to the hope they have in Christ no matter the outcome of the election. Let them see you doing your part to vote and then leaving the results in God’s hands. Remind them that no matter who wins, God is still at work and can use any situation for his glory no matter how detrimental we think it might be. How you cope with the events surrounding the election will be a living example to them. What kind of example are you being—one of trusting God or one of worry and fret? Let them see you beat election anxiety.

“Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

And remember, God’s commandments were never to agonize and anguish over the fate of the United States of America’s 2020 election. God’s commandments were to love him and love others.

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:37-39)

So for today let’s beat the election anxiety:

Let’s remember who God is.

Let’s recognize God’s sovereign authority.

Let’s trust God’s ability to use whatever the results are for his glory.

Let’s read God’s truth.

Let’s live life to the fullest today and spend our time loving others.

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