The debates are over, the long and often combative campaigns are drawing to a close, and in just a few short days on Nov. 8, Americans will make their choice and elect the 45th president of the United States.

It is without a doubt the most momentous election of my lifetime, and one that will substantially, and perhaps irrevocably, set a path for generations to come. I cannot remember a more critical juncture in the history of our nation.

The next president will appoint anywhere from two to four justices to the Supreme Court. If the appointees continue the shift to a liberal, progressive, judicial ideology, the high court will quickly and aggressively abandon the conservative moral principles that have guided this nation for hundreds of years.

This is why I have repeatedly said over the past year during our Decision America Tour that this election is not about personalities. The future composition of the Supreme Court is the preeminent issue, since the new presidential appointees will wield tremendous influence over virtually every sector of American life.

We’ve seen the drastic changes that have already occurred with the recent high court rulings on same-sex marriage, where the millennia-old definition of marriage between one man and one woman was rewritten by a progressive court guided by nothing more than cultural whims.

The high court has also been guilty of passively sitting on the sidelines and refusing to protect the religious liberties of our citizens. This summer, they refused to even hear the case of the Stormans family, whose pharmacy in Olympia, Wash., was under attack by the state of Washington for not carrying an abortifacient drug due to their religious convictions—although the drug was readily available in 30 other pharmacies within a five-mile radius. The denial to hear the case is a huge blow to Christians across America who seek to live humbly and obediently to their sincerely held religious faith.

Additionally, the next president could appoint hundreds of new judges to federal district and circuit courts. Under President Obama, more than 400 judges—virtually all of them liberal judicial activists—were nominated. They have already begun to alter the makeup of these lower courts, and more judges of the same ilk will do irreversible damage.

This kind of hostility toward men and women of faith by our government and courts is deeply disturbing. I have never seen anything like it, and if it continues, many of us—like the Stormans family—will be called on soon to choose between obedience to a godless state and a holy God.

But I have hope—not in the Republican Party, nor in the Democratic Party, but in Almighty God. Our trust can’t be in men or princes or presidents or courts, but in a Sovereign God whose blessing has been poured out upon our land in so many ways.

That’s why I’ve spent this entire year going to all 50 state capitals for our Decision America Tour, calling on God’s people to spend time in prayer and confession, seeking God’s face for His mercy and healing upon our land. More than 200,000 people have come to call on the Lord and intercede for our troubled nation.

I believe that God hears and answers prayer, and I know that His hand is not so short that He cannot save. There are still millions of fervent Christians across America who care for their country and who can make a profound difference on Nov. 8.

It’s estimated that nearly 30 million evangelicals failed to vote in the last presidential election. That was a huge mistake, and it must not be repeated.

Christians are called upon to “seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you”
(Jeremiah 29:7). This means believers should engage and be involved in earthly matters of government and politics, working for the good of their communities.

So when you go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 8, I urge you to cast your ballot for those who will protect the religious liberties of Americans, who will defend the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman, who will appoint conservative judges who will protect our fundamental, constitutional rights, who will defend the right of the unborn, and who will listen to the voices of men and women who love their God and their country.

This is not a time to sit on the sidelines. I have not endorsed a candidate, but I do endorse a future for our country where we are once again a nation under God, esteeming His principles, honoring Him in our homes, businesses and schools.

Remember the story of Esther, in whose hand the fate of the captive Hebrew people in Persia rested. Urged by her uncle Mordecai to intervene on behalf of her countrymen, he exclaimed, “And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). Obeying her uncle, Esther did indeed go before the king, and God worked a miracle of deliverance for the Jewish people across Persia, destroying their enemies and giving them favor with all the people.

Our country needs that kind of bold, godly courage to take a stand for Christ in the midst of a culture that has forgotten God and His Word and steadily ratcheted up the persecution and punishment for those who refuse to bow down to the gods of this immoral age.

Beginning in Des Moines, Iowa, on Jan. 5 and ending in my home state of North Carolina on Oct. 13, we have called on Almighty God to forgive our sins and heal our land. As in the days of Esther, we need God’s mighty hand of deliverance for our nation to once again become one nation under God, to once again proclaim, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Psalm 33:12).

Whatever the outcome on Election Day, I will continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ as our only hope. Devoted Christians like the Stormans family, Aaron and Melissa Klein of Sweet Cakes Bakery in Oregon, florist Barronelle Stutzman of Washington and many more have made their stand and are paying a stiff price.

We must obey God, not man. We must trust in God, not man. We must stand for righteousness, regardless of the consequences.

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.