Romans 13:1
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.
God’s word makes it perfectly clear that we are to submit ourselves to governing authorities. Even though we may or may not like a particular person, we are still to abide by the laws that are established by our government. However there are times when we should not submit to the government. We should never allow government to force us to disobey God. Jesus and His apostles never disobeyed the government for personal reasons; when they disobeyed; it was in order to follow their higher loyalty to God. Their disobedience did come at a price; they were threatened, beaten, thrown into jail, tortured, and even executed for their convictions. Nothing advocates rebelling against or refusing to obey the government’s laws or regulations unless those laws clearly require you to violate the moral standards revealed by God. We must be responsible citizens as well as responsible Christians.
There are a lot of views regarding the upcome presidential election. We have two candidates that clearly go against God’s word in certain areas of their thinking. We really need to understand what God is saying when His word says,”For there is no authority except that which God has established.” Now some might twist this verse saying that God is establishing an authority that lies, cheats, and uses any means to promote themselves. That is far from the truth. God allows things to happen so that in the end it will glorify God. When the leader of Egypt refused to let the Israelites go from 425 years of slavery, God showed His power by crushing Pharaoh. For Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” Romans 9:17 Yes God allowed all of this to show His power so that He would be glorified.
It is a know fact that when things get bad in our lives we instinctively turn to God for help. If you look at the interviews from the recent police shootings we see politicians on national television leading prayer asking God to help this country and the families of the victims. You don’t see prayer in the daily routines of some of these same politicians. If it takes this country getting bad to turn us back to God, then we need to realize that the end result is worth more eternally than any current situation. Please remember that this world is fallen along with Adam and that is the reason bad things happen. God’s heart it also crushed at these kinds of devastation. However we need to focus the big picture, that is the eternal picture. God allows bad things to happen, He never causes bad things to happen, so that people will hopefully turn to Him for salvation. God wants everyone to be saved, no matter what it takes to get them there. We are here on this earth for a short period of time. God will punish those who do these things in His time, which is coming soon. God loves you and wants to spend eternity with you.
Please pray for the world and the victims of all these tragedies.
