It’s everyone’s favorite time of year. Time to put on the cozy fall sweaters, steam up a pumpkin spice latte, and snuggle in with your flannel blanket to watch … political ads. Wholesome. Fun. Oscar-winning performances. They’ve really got it all.

Our family has gotten into politics a lot more this year than ever before. We’ve watched all the debates with the kids, listened to countless podcasts and interviews, and we engage in numerous lively discussions with each other and others. Our oldest son is truly bummed that he will turn the legal voting age a mere three weeks after this year’s election. Maybe you’re like us. Or maybe you’re on the opposite end of the spectrum—you don’t talk politics, you don’t know who is on what ballot, and you just want the whole election to be over so the ads and obnoxious text messages will stop.

I think Christians can fall into a couple of dangerous traps here. We can be too much in the world, or we can be not in the world enough. Here’s what I mean. We can get so wrapped up in the politics and the things of this world that we become depressed and anxious any time an election doesn’t go our way. We can put our hope in the people we elect into office and the policies we help to enact, but putting our hope in anything worldly will ultimately let us down. We can believe in and vote for all the correct “Christian things” but then forget to act Christ-like to those who don’t believe in the same things we do.

Or we can go to the opposite extreme; we can tout the separation of church and state to the max and pretend that religion and politics don’t mix, that as Christians we are not “of the world” and so we should not vote or be involved with government or anything of the sort. We can say loftily that “our citizenship is in heaven” and totally forget that God has given us a real job as citizens of this world.

So how can we get through election season as sons and daughters of the King? Here are a few good things to remember:

God established government. Jesus said this when he was standing trial before Pilate: “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above” (John 19:11). Even the Son of God submitted to the governing authorities because he knew who had established that authority. Yes, there are human elections, human coups, revolutions, and revolts, but God is still ultimately in charge, and it is he who allows human leaders to be on human thrones. And God commands us to show respect and honor to those in authority. Period. Even if we don’t like them. Even if we didn’t vote for them. Even if they had the worst campaign ads ever. To be sure, there are some cases where “we must obey God rather than men,” as Peter and the apostles showed in Acts chapter 5, and we see another example in the Bible’s Old Testament with Daniel and his friends in Babylon. But for the most part, our job as citizens is to show respect and honor, pay our taxes, and abide by the laws of our land. And our job as Christians is to trust that God is working for our good through human leaders and governments and to pray for the leaders and our land.

God has blessed us with brains, reason, and a job to do. God has a plan to work through those in charge, but that doesn’t mean that we should sit back and not be involved and informed citizens. We believe in a God who cares about the world he created and how it is run. We can and should vote for the candidate and the issues that we believe are important. We can and should run for office if God has given us those gifts and abilities to be able to bless the people we might lead. We can and should do some research with the brains God gave us. We can and should vote based on the morality he instilled in our hearts and the biblical principles he laid out for us in his Word. As Christians, we can’t be neutral about some of the issues that are on the ballots these days. God gave us a voice to protect his most vulnerable, and by the grace of God, we live in a country where we can use that voice. We know there will be no perfect candidate; all have character flaws. There are sinners on every level of government. All of us have skeletons in our closets. But this side of heaven, we still have a duty to take care of this world, make informed decisions, and be good Christian citizens.

God is on his throne. Here’s the bad news: Our government cannot save us. Every earthly government ever established has been broken and has its abuses and flaws. But here’s the good news: Ultimately, we belong to the kingdom of God with all its rights and privileges. Our God is on his throne, and he is a good king. He never abuses his power, and he didn’t just sit back on his throne and watch us all fall to pieces. He sent his Son, Jesus, to save us. When Jesus came down to earth, his people lived under an oppressive Roman government. His followers hoped he would overthrow Rome, but instead, he set his kingdom in the hearts of men. And he will take us to live with him in his kingdom, where there is no more weeping or war or political ads.

When God’s people were being taken into captivity by the nation of Babylon in the 500s B.C., the prophet Jeremiah gave the people a message from the Lord.

This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, 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 29:4-7)

Settle in. Plant roots. Become a part of the community. Pray for your city, your state, your country. Be good citizens and stewards of the land.

We too are exiles of a sort. Our home is in heaven, but God has put us here, in this time and in this place, for a purpose. He has given us gifts to use to his glory, voices to pray and vote and help make this land prosper. And like the Israelites, God has also given us a promise. Jeremiah continues: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).