Seated around our dinner table last Thanksgiving afternoon were 18 people from eight different countries: Burkina Faso, China, Ghana, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and the US, of course. Peggy and I just shook our heads and smiled. Who would have predicted that our house would become a small-scale gathering of the nations? Yet such is life as International Friendships (IFI) volunteers.1 Sitting down to the feast before us, I offered a prayer of thanksgiving and asked God to strengthen and guide the leaders of our respective countries. It dawned on me, as we prayed, that these governments — their philosophies, structures, and priorities — were so different from each other, and that the attitudes around the table toward these governments probably varied more greatly still. Who rules us matters.
Last Fall, we in the US chose not only new leaders, but a new direction. The 119th Congress was sworn in on January 3, and the presidential inauguration is slated for next Monday. Our transition, then, will be seismic, dreaded by some and welcomed by more. So, what does God’s Word teach us about these incoming leaders? Answer: the same thing His Word teaches us about our outgoing leaders. Paul writes, “the authorities that exist have been established by God,”2 and “the one in authority is God’s servant for [our] good.”3 What constitutes “our good” — whether blessing, correction, or punishment — is God’s alone to determine. It is He who “deposes kings and raises up others.”4
Then if God for His own purposes establishes and deposes leaders, how must we regard them? What must we do? Scripture speaks . . .
Place our ultimate trust and hope where it belongs. “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. . . Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.”5
Pray. Intercede with thanksgiving for “kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”6
Then do what doesn’t always come easily to us. Paul writes, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”7 Peter invokes our inspiration for submission: “Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him . . .”8
These we can all do. For the Lord’s sake, we must.
“Fear God. Honor the emperor.” — 1 Peter 2:17 ESV
Father, You “raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.”9 In You we trust. In You we live. Amen.
1 Learn more about IFI by visiting its website: https://www.ifiusa.org/
2 Romans 13:1 NIV
3 Romans 13:4 NIV
4 Daniel 2:21 NIV
5 Psalm 146:3, 5 NIV
6 1 Timothy 2:1-2 NIV
7 Romans 13:1 NIV
8 1 Peter 2:13 ESV
9 Ephesians 1:20-21 NIV
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Paul Nordman—Author 