The King Still Reigns

If you look through the lens of social media and news media, every day seems as if it exists in a kaleidoscope of chaos, frustration, and bad news. Fear can be a dominating influence, and spending just a few minutes in an app or pretty much anywhere that ends with “.com” confirms anxieties and preconceived notions about corrupt offices and angry and hurting people. It is easy to see it all and carry it inside, leading to pain and discomfort and even sickness. It won’t get better because bad news is the easier to sell and even easier to write. But bad news is a smokescreen; it is a constant fog that distracts and divides.

I have been thinking to myself all day, wondering what I could write that could lend some encouragement to frustrated people. There is good reason to be frustrated; I was annoyed by the fact that public figures who claim the name of Jesus actively celebrated the apparent victory of a representative who blasphemously claimed that the abortion clinic was “too small” for the government, a woman, and her doctor — and apparently for the presence of the Spirit of God, though he didn’t mention that. I felt that frustration of the fog of misdirection and unanswered questions that seems to surround election processes of late.

However, I brought that to Jesus, and reminded myself and declared into the morning quiet of my bedroom that Jesus is the King. He reigns over the whole world, and always will. He is the center of attention and the bringer of Peace and Justice, the only Being that can represent us and speak for us before the throne of God. While it can lead us to feel angry, and rightfully so, it is absolutely irrelevant to Jesus what party has the majority in the Senate and the House, or what administration operates from the Oval Office, or who sits on the Supreme Court. He delights in righteous and wise policy and leaders — but He is not empowered by the “right” man in office or somehow undermined by the “wrong”. He already has all power and authority on Earth.

There very well may be corruption yet to be uncovered, despite the insistence of innumerable and loud-mouthed voices. It is sad when people who feel this react with violence, shining an unfair and unwarranted reputation on patriotic, God-fearing voters who followed their conscience, the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit to the best of their redeemed human ability. It is even more disheartening when those who claim Christ vote for those who despise the image of God. The self-righteous and faux holy smugness of religious journals and writers who claim that the current administration is somehow culpable, that their fellow believers were mislead by a wicked leader — that patronizing spirit can be absolutely maddening!

But all of it is meaningless and powerless. None of it defines the church or Who she serves. That’s a freeing thing to know! 200 years from now, guess what — either the church will still be marching on, or Jesus will be back! 300 years? The same! 1000? There are only two options: the Church of Jesus Christ goes on, watching for His return, or He comes back and all things are made perfect. It’s not easy to focus in on that; I haven’t been. What matters is that we do as He commanded:

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:16–20)

Jesus is still the King, as He will be forever and ever. Have you raised your voice in prayer? Have you walked in gratitude and optimism? Have you used your vote according to the redeemed conscience the Holy Spirit gave you? Are you still praying and working and living? Then you have done well and are doing well. Reject the spirit of discouragement and shut out the voice of the accuser. Take a moment every day to purge your mind and let the King speak to you. Before bed, after lunch, in the early morning hours — whenever you can seek out a moment of quiet to remind yourself that your news feed is not your reality; that the trending tab is not ruler over your soul.

The King has made promises; promises that we have carried on and celebrated in our traditions for century after century. Some are more recent, many are personal and have a strong focus on the lands where His people are. They are more certain than the turning of the earth, than the perfectly ordained orbits of every planet, star, moon and asteroid in our universe. He has reigned over this world and this nation since her birth. Through wars, both foreign and domestic, through civil unrest and injustice, through the golden years of industry and invention — Jesus is King over America and over the world.

Do not fear representatives or policies. With all gentleness and honesty, that worry is sinful. I know full well what that the poison of obsession and anxiety does, and that it only harms. DO keep doing the right things, the things that define your life and the lives of your loved ones. DO worship and wait. DO pray with thanksgiving and expectation. What force is there that is stronger than the King? He has reigned over all nations since before time. He certainly has ruled over our nation 1776 onward. He will absolutely rule from now and forevermore, not just over this country but every country that has ever been or will ever be.

King Jesus reigns!

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’ (Revelation 11:15)