1 Peter 2:14: Or To Governors As Sent By Him To Punish Those Who Do Evil And To Praise Those Who Do Good.

1 Peter 2:14

[14] or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. (ESV)

There is an expression we often hear that goes like this: "The Lord works in mysterious ways." We often look at the way God does things and foolishly think that if we were God we would do things differently. We would do them differently, but not better. God's ways are so far above our ways. One of the things we have a hard time with is the fact that God accomplishes his purposes through very flawed people.

Consider this truth:  Noah got drunk. Abraham was too old. Isaac was a daydreamer. Jacob lied. Leah was ugly. Joseph was abused. Moses was a murderer. Gideon was afraid. Rahab was a prostitute. David was an adulterer and murderer. Elijah was suicidal. Jonah ran from God. Peter denied Christ. Martha worried about everything. Paul was a murderer. These are all people from the Bible who God used.

In this verse, the Apostle Peter talks about how God uses godless politicians for his glory. Governors are sent by him to punish evil and praise those who do good. We can likely feel that we would prefer our politicians and governing officials to have a godly worldview. We can also get so caught up in our ideas about politics we forget that God is the ultimate king. He is in charge.

Your local government is probably corrupt. Your president is probably ungodly, regardless of what political party he belongs to. If you ran for office, you would likely bring your own flawed understanding to picture and prove that you are not as qualified as you thought. We all need to be reminded that God uses the good and the bad. He will accomplish his purpose because he is God and we are not.

Do you have a bad attitude toward government officials? It's understandable. Spend your energies praying for your flawed members of the government. God is using them. Give God glory. Obey the Law.