Election weeks are always interesting. Tensions are heightened, and the air seems sharp with conflict. Neighbors, family members, and even close friends can quickly turn to enemies depending on which way they cast their vote, and our nation’s future seems fully dependent on the power of a particular party or majority. During election week, it’s easy to lose our cool and our focus unless we intentionally set our minds of the rule and reign of a different kind of leader and king.

Since I have a Christmas devotional coming out in the next few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to think about Advent and the coming of Christ earlier in the year than usual. The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming,” so Advent is a season during the year when we prepare for the coming of Christ. But during Advent, as much as we look back at the time Christ came as a baby, we look ahead to the time He will come again as the reigning King. We are to marvel in gratitude and awe at the humility of His manger and meditate with hope and longing at the certainty of His return.

So, what exactly does the advent of Christ have to do with how we walk through election week? The answer is everything. Perhaps there is no better time than an election year and specifically an election week to rest upon the first advent of Christ and to look for the surety of His second.

Cyril of Jerusalem, a theologian of the early church, wrote in the fourth century, “We preach not one advent of Christ, but a second also, far more glorious than the former. For the former gave a view of His patience; but the latter brings with it the crown of a divine kingdom….In His former advent, He was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger; in His second, He covers Himself with light as with a garment. In His first coming, He endured the cross, despising shame; in His second, He comes attended by a host of angels, receiving glory. We rest not upon His first advent only, but look also for His second.”

While I wholeheartedly believe we should vote and that our vote matters, while I believe we should fast, and pray, and seek God’s face, asking Him to put His man or woman in the place of position, authority, and power, our hope and happiness does not depend on the results. Our hope is held together through knowing the true King has come, the rule and reign of His kingdom is here, and He is coming again.

Our days matter because we live within the context and bookends of His story, and we don’t have to worry or fear what the end will be. The apostle John writes in Revelation, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen’”
(Revelation 7:9-12, emphasis mine).

No nation is excluded from the rule and reign of the Lamb. No political party can oust Him. No limit to His term can nullify the changes He comes to make. The King came, and salvation belongs to Him because of what He accomplished on the cross; the King is here, and His Spirit rules and reigns in the hearts of those who belong to Him; and the King is coming with all honor and might and power resting securely in His hands forever.

So why do we get so flustered and fired up when our political party doesn’t win? Why do we lose our cool and our calm when debating about a particular topic or issue? It’s because we forget the story that has already been written and our place within it. We give our earthly rulers too much power to dictate the steadfastness of our present, our future, and our hearts.

Because the King came and is coming, we can live, work, and worship this week without fear, drawing close to the God who holds all things under His care. Because the King is here with us, His Spirit living in the hearts of those who are fully His, we are empowered to live our lives with joy, intentionality, and peace. We remember that His Kingdom doesn’t advance through coercive words or prideful action; it advances quietly, through selfless humility, turning the other cheek, forgiveness, and dependent prayer.

We can choose not to become caught up in arguments or name-calling about an earthly dominion but to live with our reactions scripted by the Kingdom that is already among us, trusting it is God’s hand that quietly, securely holds the world.

So this week, while praying for the election, direct your thoughts towards Advent, the Child who came, and the King who is coming. Let the rule and reign of His Spirit guide and direct every word you speak, every post you put up, every emotion you feel, and every conversation you engage in.

The battlefield is not at the polls; the battlefield is in the recesses of your heart.

If your candidate wins the election but you chew out a stranger on social media or pridefully boast to a family member who belongs to the opposing party, ultimately, you’ve lost. The King who came and is coming again wins hearts through humility, death, service, and foot-washing love.

This week, before you pick up your phone to check the news, open the pages of Scripture to remember the story that has already been written and pray your thoughts, words, and actions align with the Child who came, His Kingdom that is humbly advancing, and the promise that He is coming again.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6-7