On his robe and on his thigh he has a name inscribed, ‘King of kings and Lord of lords.’  (Rev. 19:16)

One day when I was 10 my mother picked me up from school and told me that Ted (her husband and my step-father) would no longer be living with us.   I asked where he had gone and she said he went to get some help. Looking at her, I knew not to ask any more questions.

Over the years, I heard that Ted had suffered a breakdown and had gone into a hospital. I also heard that it had been an unhappy marriage.  Ted’s “disappearance” always felt like a big question mark and huge void in my childhood.

Twenty-five years later I was doing some graduate work at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. (This was, incidentally, where Ted had grown up.) One night at dinner I heard that a member of Ted’s family would be having a wedding on campus in the morning.  I decided to see if I could find Ted.

The next day I walked into the chapel at the end of the wedding and saw him.   I went up and said, “Ted.”  He said, “Who are you?”  I said, “Jamie.”  He staggered.

We sat down then and there to talk.  For the next two hours we cried, grieved, laughed, and embraced.  He gave me his perspective on what had happened, while never being ugly about my mother.  It was an incredibly healing time.

Near the end of our conversation, I looked above the high altar and the image took my breath away.  It was a stained-glass window of “Christ the King.”

Of course.  The only way I could comprehend how we had been brought back together with such love and grace is that Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, had been reigning over all of the hurt, loss, and missing years to work out His purposes in our lives.

Today I encourage you to remember that Jesus is indeed the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Even if you can’t always see your way forward, and even if there may be some big question marks, huge voids, and terrible losses in your own life, may you trust that Jesus does reign and that He is indeed working out His purposes for you.

Reflection Questions:

1. Picture yourself in that chapel with the stained glass window of Christ the King. Who might you need to be talking to for the healing of your heart?  What do you need to hear?  What do you need to say?

2. Do you have any “big question marks” or “huge voids” in your own life? If so, have you invited Jesus to touch and heal those places?

3. What would help you to believe that Jesus is indeed working out His purposes in your life, even when you can’t always see your way forward, and even when you have a hard time discerning what He is doing?