NO! Can't be!

This morning as I read Romans 13, my mind was screaming NO!  It can't be!  Paul just doesn't understand what we're going through.  That's laughable.  He wrote Romans 13 while living under the rule of Nero, one of the most brutal dictators of all time.  What he did to Christians back then is so much worse than anything the American church is experiencing today.

And, yet, Paul wrote that we are to be subject to the government because there is no authority except from God.  Government authority has been instituted by God.  He goes on to say those who resist will incur judgment!

Then he goes on to say that if you are a well-behaved person, the government will not harm you.  He says if we behave properly, we have nothing to fear from the government.  Along about there, my mind was screaming, no! no! no!  But, then, I remembered what Paul was going through.  How could he say such things when he was imprisoned, beaten, and stoned in spite of being a Roman citizen and those things were illegal to be done to a Roman citizen?

He's definitely a better person than I am.  It seems like I'm constantly whining, "It's not fair!"  In verse 5, Paul says, "Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience."

Peter says the same thing in II peter 2:20-21  "For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?  But, if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps."

Wow.  Do I ever feel humbled and convicted.  All my sniveling and whining. So, buck up, me hearties.   It's time to stop whining and complaining.  It's time to start getting on our knees more.  I grieve for my country and I'm not alone.  There are certain people running for the office of the President that I cannot agree with their policies, but if that individual is elected, God has a purpose in it.  My job is to pray for our leader, regardless who that person may be.  My job is also to understand authority and be subject to it.  If I am mistreated by the authorities in this country because of my beliefs, I need to be honored, not angry.  Not an easy thought.

The Lord has been convicting me about a lot of things lately.  For example, I have been reminded that it is not my job to "convict people of sin and righteousness and judgment, concerning sin because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go t the Father, and you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judge."(John 16:8-12)

Let me see.....that's three Apostles telling me I need an attitude adjustment.  I'm so very grateful for God's Word.  I tell the boys I tutor that attitude goes a long way toward their grade when they work with me.  I get a whiner who shrugs and says he doesn't know, I know I'm going to have to pull teeth to make the work his and not mine.  The grade goes down.  I get a boy who engages in conversation with me, I know he's willing to work and his grade goes up.  (My teaching method is Socratic.  I ask questions, attempting to stimulate their thinking.)

So, it's time for Yours Truly to have an attitude adjustment.  Time to pray for those who hate me because they believe I hate them.  I don't hate them.  I disagree with them.  Big difference.  Time to pray for those running for office.  I do pray for them, but do I have a bad attitude towards them? Are my prayers truly honoring God or whining about His choice of leadership for America?Unfortunately, more often than not, the answer is not the right one.

Just yesterday, I wrote a Facebook post to a fellow who was calling Ben Carson "crazy."  I asked that young man just exactly what he'd done in his life that gave him the right to call Ben Carson crazy. Had he endured a childhood of abject poverty, abandonment by his father, heavy racial prejudice, and failing grades in school, only to become the world's greatest pediatric neurosurgeon by his mother's strong discipline, by pulling himself up by his own bootstraps, and by the mighty grace of God? That's Ben Carson's history, so how does that young man stack up to a story like that?

But, am I doing the same thing?  What right do I have to criticize someone who's achieved so much more in life than I have?  I'm not saying I'm supposed to agree with them.  No way will I vote for most of those who are running.  I am saying that, by God's grace, to pray for them and submit to the governmental authority over me.  I can only do that by God's amazing grace.  Lord, let my first prayer be for me.  If I truly want to honor You, I must have a better attitude.