Reigning in Life

The following is a short, but poignant, article by John Whittle, a former missionary with the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade:

"The key to success in reaching out to the needy anywhere in the world is not in organization or strategy, even though they have an unquestioned place. The key lies elsewhere.

"Just as the Creator has marked us for creativity, the King of the eternal kingdom has marked us for kingship. A king is not a king because he has no problems, but because he has the power and is in the position to handle them. Each of us, nevertheless, is likely to be 'baffled to fight better,' as Oswald Chambers has it in his book on the life of Job.

"We each have received through Christ from the Father a kingdom--'Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom' (Lk. 12:32). It is the Father's pleasure to see us each equipped and to know that equipment. The effect of past sin-consciousness is to sink us in a sense of unworthiness, weakness, and uncertainty. But the word of Jesus is, 'The kingdom of God is within you' (Lk. 17:21).

"And then, to crown it all, Paul says in Romans 5:17 that we are to 'reign in life by one, Christ Jesus'! To reign is to be a king and to know one's resources. These are not meager, for Christ is within us. They are ample for the bold in faith. Alas, we often sit down under the impact of the negative appearances of circumstances and our own feelings about them. But to reign in life is to see the situation as Christ sees it, and to accept only that view in our inner spirits, whatever dismal thoughts may lay siege to our minds.

"The final book of the Bible speaks of believers as 'kings and priests unto God' (Rev. 1:6). 'Washed from our sins in His blood,' the previous verse says, ' . . . and hath made us kings and priests'! That does not mean some are kings and others are priests--but we each are kings in relation to our commission in Christ's ministry in the world; we are priests in our life of intercession and sacrifice for the world.

"'Living like kings' does not mean in the affluence of this world but in the power of the world to come. But that power is the Person within us and cannot be separated from Him. The key, if we [can] call it that, is therefore to act on that fact--His resources made ours."