Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears is like a lot of Southern politicians in that she often “talks” with God. Where she’s different is that she likes to talk about those conversations in public.
At this week’s convocation at Liberty University in southern Virginia, the commonwealth’s No. 2 opened up about how God advised her on running for office and finding faith, adding for a media sometimes ignorant about those conversations that she didn’t really hear voices.
“One day, the Lord said to me, ‘Well, why don’t you ask me?’” she said about her faith. Then, with a smirk, she added, “If there is media here, no, I didn’t hear an audible voice. Because you know how they’ll do.”
Sears revealed how she received a calling from God to run for office, even after failing in previous campaigns.
“Can I tell you I never wanted to be lieutenant governor? This is not my idea. When I was done with politics, I was done. But God had other ideas, and when he called, he never said I was going to win. He just said ‘run,’” said Sears, who served in the House of Delegates two decades ago.
Her first calling from God pushed her into a 2004 bid for Congress.
“I lost that race. Nobody remembers that, ha. They only remember the successes. But I want to tell you that was a successful race. You know why? Because I obeyed. So, man looks at the end of the thing, and then they’ll tell you whether you were successful or not. But God, all he wants to know is, ‘Did you obey me?’ So, I won that race — I won it in the spiritual realm because I obeyed,” she said to applause.
