He who "removeth kings, and setteth up kings" (Dan. 2:21) also controls the destinies of democracies. He allows the winds of public opinion to blow one way or another, to the end that what He has determined shall be done.
Our acquaintance beforehand with the final result of the world's politics, our being fully persuaded that our Father's will is being done now, and the conscious knowledge of our portion in a better sphere, should keep us tranquil and composed no matter what happens in this or any other country. We who have been informed of "things not seen as yet" should not only be submissive to the will of God in such matters, but really have no will of our own whatever, no more than an angel would have who was sent from heaven into the world on a certain mission. But Christians are constantly in danger of forgetting that they are not of this world, even as He is not of it.
When the Lord Jesus was here, politics were bad, but He did not lift a finger or utter a word to change them. When the Apostle Paul labored here, they were still worse, but not once did he express a wish to change things, or give instructions to Christians to help do so, or even to pray that it night be changed. In the days of the ruthless and capricious tyrant Nero, Paul wrote of the emperor's agents that they were the ministers of God for good (Rom. 13:4). We are exhorted to "fear God. Honor the king," to "obey magistrates" and the "powers that be," while we pass through this world. And while doing so we can sing: We are but strangers here, Heaven is our home.
P. Wilson