CURRENT AFFAIRS
The Election and "God's Will"
By Brad Gray
If the November election results in a landslide victory without cheating or intimidation, does this indicate the results were God's will? That God placed that individual in office intentionally and for His purposes? Based on Romans 13:1, the answer is yes:
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.However, the extended answer is that while it is the will of God for the person who is in power to be there, this is a higher purpose than we might think. And we cannot simply say, "Well, since God put him or her there, it's all good and we should never concern ourselves with what he or she does because after all, God put him or her there."
It's just not true, as we find from the story of King Saul. In the days of the prophet Samuel, God gave Israel a king to lead them instead of the judges God had put into place when the Israelites entered the Promised Land (Acts 13:21). Not because giving Israel a king was God's perfect will, but because it was His permissive will. In fact, God's perfect will for Israel was not for them to have a king at that time; He allowed it because the people demanded a human king instead of God to lead them in order to be more like other nations (1 Samuel 8:1-9). And He allowed it out of anger; as Hosea 13:11 says:
I gave you a king in my anger,God's will allowed the people of Israel to receive what they wanted. The people, however, suffered greatly under the kingship of Saul. Initially — outwardly — he seemed head and shoulders above all other men (1 Samuel 9:2). But when it came time to show Godly character and be a true leader, he not only failed, but even gave orders to attack the priests of the Lord because "their hands were with David" (1 Samuel 22:17). David who was the man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22). Finally, after a long battle where Saul tried to kill David because of jealousy, the king Israel wanted killed himself (1 Samuel 31:4).
and I took him away in my wrath.
God had given the people what they demanded and he turned out to be an ungodly king and a complete failure for the people.
Was Saul God's will? Yes, but God had a far deeper reason than just making Saul king or even giving Israel what they wanted: to give Israel a lesson in trusting God instead of forcing their own will. By allowing Israel to force their own will, God's ultimate will was accomplished, and they were shown that their real need was to trust God.
But to this day they haven't learned that lesson.
The wider and more encompassing question is: Have we???
Image Credit: Kim Davies; "Oval Office" [Replica at the Ronald Reagan Library]; Creative Commons
Tags: Biblical-Truth | Controversial-Issues | Current-Issues | God-Father | Political-Issues
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Published 9-21-16
