God works in all things (even in bad government).
Romans 13:1-2 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. 2 So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.
1 Timothy 2:1-2 I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. 2 Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.
You think your government is bad? Bad government is all over the Old and the New Testament, most of the people that have the opportunity to read this blog post will be in a country that gives them a better situation in life than the people that are mentioned in the Bible.
Remember the favor that the Israelite's enjoyed when they first arrived in Egypt? It didn't take long for it to disappear after Joseph's death. God allowed an oppressive government to rule his people and bring them great harm even though there isn't any indication that God's people deserved any of it.
Hundreds of years earlier God told Abraham that it was going to happen, God allowed a paranoid, evil dictator to oppress his people as a part of a bigger plan that they probably didn't know about.
We forget that God's people in the Bible seldom knew as much as we presume to know about what God is doing and we are pretty sure that our point of view of God's story is what really matters. But each of us are such an incredibly small part of the whole story so it is pretty arrogant to assume that we know much about God's timetable.
The New Testament scriptures listed above are easy for Americans to read but application is not going to happen very easily, especially when another election is approaching, which seems to be always.
We forget that Peter and Paul wrote those scriptures to respect and pray for the Roman government that was so harsh to them. We are pretty sure that it is the end of the world if our candidates do not win.
God is in control and his purposes will prevail even in bad governments. Maybe he sent them to judge us or just maybe we won't ever know why he allowed us to live under bad government.
Daniel 2:20-21 “Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings.We forget that this world must get much worse off before the end of time. I am not predicting that the end of the world is here if my candidate doesn't win but at some point the badness of our world will never turn around and improve.
Jeremiah 29:7 And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”We are ambassadors in a foreign land, we are here to persuade and influence the government and the people of this land but ultimately we cannot force them to behave a certain way. We should strive to make things better in this world but we cannot force people that live in the kingdom of darkness to live like children of the light.
When things don't seem to be going the right direction remember, things are going in the right direction, according to God's purpose and plan.
