Day 5: For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9: 6-7a
How frustrated have you been with our government this year? It seems to me that we have a citizenry that increasingly relies on a government that unceasingly disappoints us. Whether our leaders are fighting over the budget or COVID management or immigration or the election, many of us have a sense that they really don’t care about serving their constituents as much as they care about retaining their power and lining their pockets. Yet we know that, compared to governments around the world today and especially compared to governments throughout history, we’ve got it pretty good. Living in the United States of America is a blessing.
Looking to the government to fix our problems will always disappoint us. The government supplies goods, services, and protections that improve our lives. Good government is a gift from God. He uses it to provide for His creation. However, it is an organization run by sinful people, and it is limited in what it can actually achieve.
Thankfully, we have a King — the King of Kings — who can fix our problems, even if He doesn’t always do it in our way or on our schedule. He knows better than we do what we need. He loves us more than we can imagine. He has more power than any military. And while He doesn’t always rule in the way we want Him to, we can always trust His promise to work all things together “for the good of those who love Him.” (Romans 8:28) Our King gained the throne by shedding His own blood, sacrificing Himself for our salvation. We can trust a King like that to carry us through depression and financial distress and health problems. We can trust Him to take care of not only ourselves but the people we love as well.
When you get frustrated with the evil in the world, when the chaos and struggle becomes overwhelming, when the lockdowns and masking go on way too long, remember that God has all of this under His control. He is restraining evil. He allows the struggle to continue so that more people may come to Christ and join us in heaven. In the meantime, he uses governments and healthcare workers and emergency services and farmers and church workers and so many others to reduce the pain and suffering. Quite often He uses you.
Readings: Isaiah 9:1-7, Romans 13, Revelation 5
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