Speaking to his colleagues after being elected Speaker of the House by a unanimous GOP vote, new Speaker Mike Johnson said on Wednesday that he thinks there are no coincidences in life and that he firmly believes God played a role in his speakership victory.

Particularly, Speaker Johnson spoke to the House about what he sees as God’s plan for each and every person and how that plan for our lives ends up impacting them, often in unexpected ways but always with a purpose, God’s greater plan, in mind.

He said, “I want to tell all my colleagues here what I told the Republicans in that room last night; I don’t believe there are any coincidences in a matter like this. I believe that Scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority. He raised up each of you, all of us, and I believe that God has ordained and allowed each one of us to be brought here for this specific moment in this time.”

Continuing, Speaker Johnson went on to speak about the responsibility that comes with God granting people special gifts and great opportunities, calling on his fellow lawmakers to ensure America remains a beacon of light in an increasingly dark world.

Making that point, he said, “This is my belief. I believe that each one of us has a huge responsibility today to use the gifts that God has given us to serve the extraordinary people of this great country — and they deserve it — and to ensure that our republic remains standing as the great beacon of light and hope and freedom in a world that desperately needs it.”

Speaker Johnson: "I believe that scripture and the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time."

You don't see too many politicians these days that talk about faith like this. pic.twitter.com/97MTrCMAeJ

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 25, 2023

And Speaker Johnson’s plan for keeping America that shining light includes both helping fight the growing darkness of Islamist terror abroad and protecting America from the ravages of illegal immigration, seeing, as he does, the border situation to be an absolute disaster.

Speaking about how he wants to fight the barbaric Hamas terror organization without putting American troops at risk, he encouraged the chamber to support aid for Israel. In his words: “The first bill that I’m gonna bring to this floor in just a little while will be in support of our dear, dear friend Israel, and we’re overdue. And given that, we’re going to show not only Israel but the entire world that the barbarism of Hamas that we have all seen play out on our television screens is wretched and wrong. And we’re going to stand for the good in that conflict.”

And, during the same speech, Johnson said, “We have a catastrophe at our southern border.” Continuing, he added, “The Senate and the White House can no longer ignore the problem. From Texas to New York, wave after wave of illegal migrants are stressing our communities to their breaking points. We know that our streets are being flooded with fentanyl and in all of our communities, children and even adults are dying from it. The status quo is unacceptable. Inaction is unacceptable and we must come together and address the broken border. We have to do it.”

Speaker Mike Johnson: “We have a catastrophe at our southern border…our streets are being flooded with fentanyl…the status quo is unacceptable.”pic.twitter.com/LqHue9c5Aa

— Immigration Reform Law Institute (@IRLILaw) October 25, 2023

Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video