Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!” Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’” (Acts 23:4-5)
Exodus 22 is the history of God giving Moses the Ten Commandments. He gave Moses other rules the Jews were to follow. One of them was: “Do not curse the ruler of your people.” (vs 28)
For some reason, Paul didn’t know he was speaking to the High Priest. He apologizes for his mistake, so God sees him as righteous but the High Priest doesn’t.
Romans 13:1 says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities…The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Many in the U.S. raise the question: “If God is in charge—why haven’t we had better presidential candidates than Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.” Why are we forced to choose between the lesser of two evils? The verse tells us that even if we don’t respect the president or our boss, we are to respect their office knowing that God has put that person in charge even though we don’t understand why.
This morning my heart is wounded for my daughter. I’m not free to give details. But many times we ask God: “Why did you let that happen?” We don’t understand what God is doing because we can’t see the big picture. We have to trust that God will give us beauty for ashes and be thankful for our blessings—thankful we don’t live in Russia where Putin is the authority.
Father, I praise You for Your Holy Spirit and my loved ones who comfort me. Give your power to the Ukrainians so they can remain free in their homeland and be free to worship you. In Christ’s name, I pray, amen.
My heart is sad for your daughter too. She will recover in time. Time is the great healer. I am counting on God to be the great healer for her and for me as well. .
It is so hard to understand why God puts us, friends, family and our country in difficult positions. I often think that this is something that I will never get an answer for until I am in Heaven. Maybe then, it won’t matter. So much sadness surrounds us now as Putin is slowly destroying Ukraine and torturing its people. My heart aches every night when we watch the news. I do feel God is in control…but why would a loving God allow this to happen? I don’t think that it is a question that any of us can answer. Especially now, I feel guilty for all that I have been blessed with. People are suffering through no fault of their own. I am praying for their country and the Ukrainians.
I’m praying for you and your daughter also. I try to avoid the news but pray for the Ukrainians. They have put up a good fight. I’m glad we’re in Poland helping out. I sometimes feel guilty also for my blessed life. Yet I know God never wants us to feel guilty. Love and blessings, Jody