The change of government and the Heart of God

Let me tell you a story, it’s the story of a man who lived in a rather corrupt time and was surrounded by rather corrupt people. He had cried and prayed to God for a change and for some form of judgment upon the godlessness and moral absence that he saw wherever he looked within his nation, especially in its leadership and governance. It was on his heart to pray for God’s deliverance from this sad state of affairs that his country had been reduced to. He had been praying for long and God had begun to seem distant and quiet.

Suddenly though he heard from God. And the answer he got was not what he expected. God was watching all along and He had a plan all along. But the answer was coming in the form of a new government. Unfortunately though, the reputation that went ahead of this government was not really one that assured the heart. Sure it may have been a government that brought prosperity to its people and some would even dare to rank it among the top most beautiful governments to ever be. It was a government that would long be remembered by the historians and the story tellers. It was a swift and quick moving government. It did not let anything stand in its way and it would “sweep” the nation and make it its own. But all this came at a cost. It was seemingly a very violent government. It had the reputation of being particularly harsh on the “foreigner” and extremely benevolent to its own. Its leaders and rank holders had committed some barbaric acts and had much blood on their hands to account for.

Now this answer was not the expected one and rightfully so the man of prayer looked up to the heavens as his words echoed the question of his heart - God were we not in enough trouble already? Isn’t this a rather high price to pay to set right the previous leaders and get things back on track? Can’t we just keep the current powers but make them godly and moral?

But God dealt with the man’s heart and answered him and taught him how every power has a purpose and each will eventually play its part in the great plan of God. And in a beautiful almost poetic and movie like way God moves his eyes through all the wickedness of the present government and through all the wickedness and violence of the coming government and eventually God fixes the man’s eyes on the throne of heaven and says “God is in His holy temple, let all the earth be silent before Him.” It’s a picture of the sovereignty of God and it was enough to bring courage and hope to the man’s heart.

Now you could think I was talking about me, or some present person praying earnestly for the nation of India. You could see the parallels between this story and the current story being written in this country of ours. But it’s an old story… the story of Habakkuk the prophet, the nation Israel and the coming judgment of God at the hands of the Babylonians.

No the present government was not going to get better, and yes the coming one would live up to its reputation of prosperity and development for the price of violence and destruction – but Habakkuk penned these words at the end of his time with God –

“ though the fig trees does not blossom,

and there be no fruit in the vine,

though the olive crop may fail

and the fields yield no food

and the flock be cut off from the fold

and there be no herd in the stalls,

YET WILL I REJOICE IN THE LORD

I WILL TAKE JOY IN THE GOD OF MY SALVATION!!

Church rise up, things may get better, things may get worse but our confidence and our hope and our joy and our victory is in the unchanging truth that apart from the will of the sovereign Lord of heaven nobody takes any seat of power.