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There is no hope to be found in government. There is only hope in Christ! And there is no better way to have it.

The Hope of a Coming KingThe Same Old Story

A man sat in raging fury, surrounded by his anger and those who only kindled it more. His wife had not done as she had been told and now he was left embarrassed and picking up the pieces. If he didn’t do something in his anger people would think he was weak. If he did do something in his anger, he would lose her. Pride welled in his heart, his friends advised him to act upon his rage. He did.

He divorced his wife and told everyone what she did. Only then did he realize what he had done and he missed her. His friends calmed him by saying he could have any woman he wanted and they began to line up the choices. They made the women as beautiful as they could and presented them to him day after day. Most of the women were left used, broken, and rejected. Only one was accepted and even that meant a fate without love and respect as an object of her husband.

I have been working my way through a study on Ruth and Esther by Kathleen Nielson. She made a point this week that I haven’t been able to get out of my head. Speaking of the Persian empire she says, “God’s people are under the rule of an ungodly king yet still under the hand of sovereign God. Perhaps the weakness of the Persian sovereign serves best to point to the need for a far better one.”

What Does That Have to Do with Us?

I hear so much complaining about political leaders. I have heard it my entire life and done my share of participating in it. Some of the complaints are valid, some are not. This is not meant to be a post to make you upset politically no matter where you stand.

The reality is that Christ is not ruling from the Whitehouse. Christ is in control over all things including who sits in the Whitehouse and that ought to give us hope.

  1. Make Our Hearts Yearn for Christ

When we feel like despair is all we can muster for the current state of affairs, it ought to point us to Christ.

The inabilities of fallible humans in authority over us ought to direct our hearts to love and yearn for the One who is perfect, infallible, unchanging, and good.

How often does a political issue draw your heart toward Christ? How often does a moral issue within a leader make you ache for the One who has never sinned and will never sin? How often does a judgment you deem immoral, illegal, or inappropriate make you long for the One Whose judgements are just? How often does an ill word spoken or posted on social media enflame your heart for the kingdom that is coming with the Ruler Who always speaks in kindness and love?

I am ashamed to say that most often my heart is drawn to stop at the problem and dwell there. When a ruling or a statement seems to me disgusting or immoral or frustrating, I complain. I say with my mouth that I respect those in authority over me but I struggle with that practically lived out and prayers on their behalf, issued from my heart, are far too few.

We ought to demand high standards from those in authority. Our hearts ought to be passionate about forsaking sin and saddened when others boast in it.

However, most of the time we just stop at complaining rather than seeing and sensing what is an irreconcilable difference. This world can never be home. The leaders here can never be perfect. The circumstances can never be ideal. And that is okay because it ought to make me love and seek my Savior more. It ought to make me long for His return (Revelation 22:20).

  1. Tell Others the Good News of the Hope that is Coming!

Living in this present reality with the hope of a far better future also ought to kindle my heart to share this truth about our coming King with as many as possible – passionate that they too can look with hope at a future far better than their current reality.

It doesn’t really matter what you think about the current administration or the last one or any other one for that matter – I would hope we could all agree that people fail and fall and have crazy ideas and are infected with sin to the core of their beings. But Christ is coming back and He will bring believers into a forever home with Him. That is beautiful.

Right now we wait with longing for the day when we will be with Him in our heavenly home. We also ought to pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1-2) and share this truth with any and all who will listen.

There is no hope to be found in government. There is only hope in Christ! And there is no better way to have it.