Devotions: God is Sovereign Over the Government

 

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord;
He turns it wherever He wishes.

Proverbs 21:1 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

 

God is the King of kings. He has ultimate authority. Nothing takes Him by surprise; no one does something He doesn’t know about. God is the sovereign Lord over all creation. He can make rulers do what He wants. This does not mean that He always makes them do what they should. He allows people to make their own decisions. We are allowed freedom of choice which unfortunately means that some rulers are allowed to be evil. Yet God always uses that for His ultimate purpose. He can see all of history, past, present and future, at once. He knows what is best for everyone individually and collectively. And He can and will work everything for the good of those who love Him. There have been examples in the Bible of God causing a ruler to do something we think is bad for His ultimate purpose (Pharaoh in the Exodus and Pilate in Jesus’ crucifixion which I will address next week.) God has also caused rulers to do what is right, like King Artexerxes allowing the Jews not only to return to Israel but also funding the rebuilding of the temple in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra. God does what is best and only He knows what that is. We can trust Him to do what is right. In America, we do not have to deal with the tyranny of kings who inherited the throne, but there are times when we suffer because of the ruler the people have chosen. We have a say in who will rule over us so we need to consider carefully who God would have us vote for. We need to pray for God’s will to happen and then accept what happens as His will. Do you trust God to be in control of the government? Do you believe that He has that authority and will use it to do what is best? If you live in a country where you can vote, do you ask God’s guidance in making your choices on the ballot?

 

 

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