The Political Season has Begun

The fire was lit beneath the political cauldron last November. It came to a boil with the President’s "State of the Union"address. It will doubtlessly continue to cook until the next election. It smells like the same old thing they cook every time.

I didn’t want this Blog to be a political diatribe. I still don’t. But I have been hearing my friends worry about "where the country is going" now that so many of those who’s moral agenda is different from our own have finally found their way into office.

As I hear this I can’t help but reflect on some interesting things I have been reading in the book of Daniel lately. No, I am not going to predict the rise of the Antichrist and the end of time (although I never really want to rule that out). I am thinking more along the way that God and His people interacted with the pagan kings and governments in Daniel’s day.

You’ll remember in the book of Jeremiah, God referred to king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as "my servant" whom He would use for His purpose "until his time is up" (Jeremiah 27: 6-7). In Daniel we find that young Daniel came to prominence during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Because he remained true to his faith, God raised Daniel up to represent Him before Nebuchadnezzar on several occasions. This usually ended up with Nebuchadnezzar praising God and recognizing His sovereignty (Daniel 2: 47; 3: 28-29; 4: 34-37). This was then followed by the reign of Darius, in which occurred the famous story of the Lion’s den, which also ended in king Darius’ recognition of God’s sovereignty (Daniel 6: 26-28).

Please do not misunderstand me! I am not suggesting that we are in the hands of pagan rulers! There have always been and continue to be committed Christian men and women serving in our Congress. As far as godliness is concerned, the current congress certainly is no worse, and probably no better than the previous ones that have supported Biblical moral values for political reasons if no other.

What I am trying to say is this: God is on the real throne and is orchestrating history according to His purposes (see Romans 8:28 & 13:1).

Second, if we remain true to our faith as Daniel did, God will raise us up and use us in the way He intends to to have us represent Him to our world, regardless of who is "in power."

Thanks for spending this moment with me today!