1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
Proverbs 21:1-2
he turns it wherever he will.
2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord weighs the heart.
He moves them by His will
Every generation of Christians, back to our 1st-century brothers and sisters, have prayed Proverbs 21:1. Leaders are the ones at the forefront of every battle. They often become weary, receive devious council, have gaps in their faith, or no faith at all. The difference between us and them is that when they miss the will of God, the whole nation suffers.
Man proposes, God disposes
We “high mileage” Christians have seen with our own eyes unexpected events. Interventions by the hand of God that turned the hearts of world leaders as well as local officials. We have first-hand knowledge of Proverbs 21:1 and Psalms 19:21:
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.
Psalms 19:21
God’s will is always fulfilled
What we see today is nothing new. Jesus was born into a nation occupied by the most powerful empire of that time. Attacked by His people and crucified by the Roman empire’s hand, all by the will of God. What about Christ’s apostles and believers? The apostle Paul wrote, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” (Romans 8:36)
God did not steer the leaders away from crucifying Jesus or the martyrdom of Stephen or the onerous conditions enacted against millions of Christians down through the centuries. Nevertheless, God’s will is always fulfilled. God has changed the decisions of countless “kings,” usually without our knowledge of it. And all leaders are accountable before God for their actions.
Our biggest challenge
Perhaps as Christians, the biggest challenge we face is the temptation to make this world our home; it’s not; we’re just passing through.
Photo by Patrick Mayor on Unsplash
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