I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the presidential election of 2016 to be over.

Maybe you’ve been ready for it to be over for quite a while! Maybe, like many, you feel that the two major candidates this year are not the best America has to offer. And maybe you are a bit stressed, or even distressed, about that.

I want to give you some encouragement from God’s Word. My heart is comforted by many biblical passages in these days, but especially from the book of Daniel.

The primary theme in Daniel is that God is in charge. He is sovereign over the affairs of nations, and he is Lord of history. In fact, he is bringing history to its ultimate fulfillment, and it will be glorious.

In chapter 2 of Daniel we see this very clear statement about God’s sovereignty: “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21). But a day is coming when “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that … shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).

That’s because He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. One day, all earthly kingdoms will come to an end, and King Jesus will reign forever. He is coming again in victory, He will fix this broken world for good, and His dominion will have no end.

Now that is good news — if you know the King. Do you know this King who is coming again to reign?

Although we have all rebelled against him, this King loves us. He loves us so much that He relinquished His glory and came to earth to be born as a baby, lived the perfect life we could never live, and then died on a cross for the sins of all who will repent and believe in Him. And He is coming again, this time in glory, to rule and reign.

Are you ready to meet him?

Until that day, we are to serve this King of love with all our hearts, mindful that we are first of all citizens of heaven.

“But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21)

So, while we are citizens of the United States, and should be thankful for it, and work for the good of our country, we are first of all citizens of heaven, and children of the King.

Our King loves us, and He is in charge of our lives and of history.

The great theologian John Murray once said this: “It is an inexpressible comfort in these days of upheaval and turmoil to know that all events, great and small, are embraced in God’s sovereign providence. Present history is not moving toward chaos. It is moving in the grand drama of God’s plan and purpose to the accomplishment of His holy designs and to the vindication of His glory.”

King Jesus loves you, He is in control, and He is coming again. Until that day, let us trust Him and serve Him joyfully, and may our lives reflect the love of Christ to our nation and our world.

Dr. Thurman R. Hayes Jr. is senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Suffolk. Follow him on Twitter at @ThurmanHayesJr.