Oh Boy, Oh Boy...

Romans 13:3-4 - For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake.

My, oh, my. OMG. Yikes. These were the thoughts going through my head this morning as I read these scriptures, which I've read before. Prior to this we are told that we are to be subject to ALL authority...ALL... Why? Because God has placed them in that position. Sometimes we wonder if God knows what He's doing. Yes, He does. He is very aware of what He's doing. We just don't always understand His reasoning because His ways are greater than ours, or we don't know enough about God in the first place. 

I think I will not be liked for today's blog! It depends on who reads it. C'est la vie. I'm posting... I've struggled with these scriptures. I read them over and over, slowly, picking each word apart. And I thought about the authority of this nation. Oh, we've had many instances of poorly managed authority, from the right and the left. No man--or political party--is perfect. The only person in this authority that would be acceptable, at best, would know what's right and wrong. The absolute best would be one who knows and follows the laws of God. 

Why God puts less than desirable "rulers" in charge is another question. A commentary suggested that it was to show what evil is. Ahem. Maybe to get us back to right thinking!?

According to this scripture rulers are not to be a terror to good works, only to evil. They are to stand against evil, not be part of it. If we do good, yet have an "evil" ruler, will he recognize that we do good, or will he see it as a threat and consider it evil? Oh, the questions about these verses. 

He should be God's minister to us for good. We should fear doing evil because our authority will punish us for it because he's the one who is to bear the sword against evil...not cause it. But today it almost seems as though we fear doing good. Or is it that we have grown complacent? We shrug our shoulders and wonder what we can do. That's life; life changes; times change; let's get with the times. Let's turn a blind eye to what once was right. 

No matter who God places in our authority, however, one thing stands out, we are to submit to them. That way God will have no judgment against us. Yet He will also judge the authority and determine if what he has done is right or wrong. But we are to submit..... That doesn't mean that we don't recognize his deeds. 

But how do these fellows get into office in the first place? It is we who elect them. And if we don't know right from wrong...am I getting myself into trouble here...we will put into authority, the one we elected. Like Israel wanting a king after so many years of being ruled by God's priests...by God's authority. They chose to go the wrong direction, they chose to go against God, they chose to ignore His laws. They had God as their Authority, the highest Authority. They were the apple of His eye. In His hands they were blessed. What more could they want? Yet, they chose what the rest of the world had.

I've said it before and I'll say it again...we have turned our backs as a nation on God. Just like Israel. They got what they asked for...and then some. They chose him for his appearance and charm. Saul, who was Jewish and knew the ways of God, knew right from wrong, chose to be disobedient. This has been going on in our country for years and I believe God is finally getting a little weary of our wandering further away from Him. I believe He's trying to get our attention. Will we heed the warning? We can believe God exists, say that we have faith in Him, maybe even go to church occasionally. But if He's not a constant in our everyday life, but only an occasional visitor in our thoughts on Sundays, we're missing something.

Another commentary wrote something I was not prepared for. It's something some will understand. It was written by James Burton Coffman in 1974:

[Verse 3] is a comment upon the effectiveness and success of the state as God's ordained institution that such a statement as this stands as truth. Aberrations may be catalogued and failures noted; but,in the principal part, and in the overwhelming number of examples afforded by history, Paul's language here must stand as unchallenged truth. There has hardly been a state in history where the private exercise of Christian faith has been the object of governmental hatred and punishment. The glaring exception to this is in the ruthless Marxist governments which have appeared in the present century; and, should that type of government gain ascendancy in areas populated by Christians, there could well be another age of martyrs like that which descended upon the first century, shortly after these noble words were penned. The truth of Paul's words here is not contravened [disputed], either by the persecutions of the first century or the threat of persecutions now.

Glenn Beck has been trying to steer this country to knowing what truth is, where to find it, pleading with us to search it out for ourselves. Yes, he believes without God as our Authority in this country...and people in authority who believe this, we are in trouble. The only way someone will know what is right and true is to know Jesus, to understand the Word of God and what is expected of us.  It's not about man's interpretation of what's good; it's not how good we live our lives apart from God. It's all God related...a hard word.

God may very well be trying to turn our thinking around. He's trying to turn this nation back to Him. He may have to use some drastic measures. In the Bible we are warned of these days. Maybe this country will wander in the wilderness for 40 years first. We are to be tolerant these days of other religions, but God is not tolerated here anymore. A country without God... He knows what we need; we do not. He created us; we did not create Him. He has given us the choice to know what's right from wrong; we choose whether we want to know it or not. Thankfully, He is always with those who still look to Him, no matter how the world changes.

God is not some tyrant. He only wants what's best for us. He is saddened by the state of our affairs and how we have lost touch with Him. Sometimes He just has to intervene in some way to get our attention. He has promised us a good life if we choose His direction. 

Romans 2:8-11 - ...to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--[will be inflicted] indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek; but glory, honor, and peace [will be given] to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.