Most of us are familiar with the old limerick of Benjamin Franklin that goes:

For the want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For the want of a shoe the horse was lost,

For the want of a horse the rider was lost,

For the want of a rider the battle was lost,

For the want of a battle the kingdom was lost,

And all for the want of a horseshoe-nail.

Well, if we believe certain Democratic operatives, it was for the want of one correct word – really, the want of just three letters – that the election was lost.

The narrative goes like this: The emails of John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chief, were hacked when an IT specialist told Podesta’s people that a phishing email, instructing him to change his password, was “a legitimate email” rather than “an illegitimate email.” Because of this, Podesta sent in his personal information, as a result of which a host of damning emails were released to the public, because of which Hillary Clinton lost the election.

So, it was not Hillary’s poor campaign strategy or her lack of personal appeal or her checkered record that cost her the election, nor was it Trump’s ability to connect with the frustrations and angst of the masses.

No, it was a very small typo amounting to just three letters – the difference between “a legitimate” and “an illegitimate” – that cost Hillary the election. (Apparently, while IT-types might dazzle us with their technical savvy, they’re just as vulnerable to typos as the rest of us.)

The reality, of course, is that what helped to sink the Democratic ship was not the hacking of its emails but the content of the emails hacked. Otherwise, who in the world would have cared about the inner-working of the Hillary campaign if everything was above board and above reproach? There’s only a scandal when something scandalous takes place. Otherwise, without wood, a fire quickly goes out.

This is not to downplay the illegality of the hacking, whether by Russia or some other entity (Wikileaks insists that it did not get its documents from Russia), nor is it to make light of the damage done by the many embarrassing leaks.

Instead, it is to say three things.

First, to the extent this phishing narrative is accurate – and it does not appear to be disputed – it points again to God’s sovereignty in the elections. If the difference between Hillary or Trump getting into the White House is a three-letter typo, it would be difficult not to see God’s hand in this.

Consequently, if you believe in a God who is active in the world, this would be a perfect example of His purposeful intervention, since something as massive as the election of the most powerful person in the world is certainly not going to be determined by a chance, three-letter typo.

Second, this whole narrative underscores the folly of not taking responsibility for defeat, falling into the blame game instead.

One day it’s the FBI (specifically James Comey); the next day it’s the Russians; the next day it’s the typo.

For good reason, conservative leaders are hoping the Democrats will continue to point accusing fingers rather than modify their message. It’s the guaranteed path to ongoing failure.

Third, if you have no skeletons in the closet, you’re not worried when the house cleaners come in to do their job.

Remarkably, in the aftermath of the release of thousands of Podesta’s emails, some of which were very disturbing, at no point did he express remorse for what he had done. Instead, the whole focus was on what was done to him and his party.

Was there no shame that some dirty secrets had been revealed? Was there no place for a clear mea culpa?

Learning from all this, I believe it’s a good practice to live your life in such a way that if your texts or emails or internet history were revealed to the public, you’d have nothing of which to be ashamed. After all, didn’t Jesus say, “for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known” (Matt. 10:26)?

As these elections have taught us clearly, you never really know what the consequences of one stray word or one misguided act might be.

(For any of you who feel condemned by your past, I point you to the cross. That’s where Jesus settled things on our account, and that’s where you can get a brand-new start.)