In God’s Hand

Proverbs 21:1 (NKJV)

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD,
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes.

The presidential election is over and many are celebrating the sweetness of victory, while at the other side people are tasting the bitterness of defeat. In God’s economy, it does not matter who wins, after all it is according to His own liking. He can put on nice and good leaders and presidents, and also He puts on wicked and tyrant presidents. In this regard, everything is according to God’s plan and will – which we can understand only when we walk close to the Lord.

His people wanted a king to be like other nations around them – because they do not like being under God’s rule, and He gave them Saul who later on became a tyrant king (1 Sam 8:19). His people was looking for idols instead of seeking God, and so God let them be taken as captive to Idol Central Babylon (modern day Iraq) for 70 years. He let King Nebuchadnezzar conquer and rule over Israel to give hard lesson to His people (2 Kings 17:7). Afterwards, He let King Cyrus, a Persian king to take over Babylon and way beyond the massive Persian Empire (modern day Iran). Cyrus is even called God’s anointed (Isaiah 45:1) – he is the Lord’s man to accomplish His purpose and to free His people back to Israel and rebuild their destroyed city.

The point is, who ever the leaders are, they are God’s appointed – the Lord turns their hearts wherever He wishes, and the Bible warns us to respect them (1 Peter 2:13-17). We may wonder why our choices are not God’s choices, but at the end of the day – we must be worshiping God at any circumstance, whether God’s answer to our prayers is a “yes”,“no”, or “wait”. King David’s fervent prayer to preserve the life of his first son with Bathsheba had a “no” answer, so King David rose up, cleaned himself, ate his meal, and worshiped God – soon the Lord gave him a great son, King Solomon. Every circumstance in our life is governed and directed by God – all we need to do is trust and rely upon God, even after we prayed and fasted. He knows already knows the story, and we don’t.


1 Peter 2:13-17 (NIV)
Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.