Our world will never be perfect—not until Jesus Christ comes back to destroy all evil and injustice, and usher in His rule of perfect justice and peace. Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Does this mean we don’t have any responsibility to resist evil and work for a better world? No, of course not. When Jeremiah wrote to the people of his day who’d been captured by an evil nation and taken hundreds of miles away, he told them they still should do everything they could to make their new home a better place. God, he said, commanded them to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper” (Jeremiah 29:7).

Our leaders face many problems today—and they need God’s wisdom to meet them. Pray for them, and pray also for our nation as we look toward our national elections—even if they’re still many months away. The Bible tells us to pray for “all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Timothy 2:2).

I pray too that you will reconsider your decision not to vote. Millions around the world don’t have that privilege—and if we neglect it, some day we could find ourselves in the same situation.