Much has been said about the sin of pride. We have many examples of it in Scripture and way too many in our culture. Most of our recent presidents would qualify as being overly prideful.

A little pride is okay. I was proud of my service in the Marine Corps. We can be proud when we do a good job and when we help others. However, pride taken to the extreme can have serious consequences. Let’s take the king of Babylon as an example.

King Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful monarch who conquered the entire known world at that time. Babylon was an incredible architectural marvel. The city walls and the Hanging Gardens were two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

But Nebuchadnezzar was also full of himself. In Daniel 4, the king had a dream but could not figure out the meaning. None of his paid government advisers could interpret it. (It seems that bloated government has been a problem longer than we imagined.) Daniel came into the king’s presence and told him the dream. Daniel had a solid track record of interpreting dreams.

Daniel realized the dream was a warning to the king about his pride. Daniel pleaded with him to repent of his sins, and maybe, just maybe, God would relent. This tells us a lot about Daniel’s character as he was taken from Jerusalem at age 15, castrated, and put into a three-year brainwashing school. Through it all, Daniel maintained his character and faith. He could have silently prayed, “God, let him burn!” Instead, Daniel showed compassion and begged the king to repent. But he didn’t!

An entire year went by and we find the king on the roof of his spectacular palace thinking how great he was and what he had accomplished. Suddenly, there was a voice from heaven saying, Dude, the jig is up! (Roger’s translation.) The proud king was now a wild beast that spent the next seven years eating grass. He was led by a collar around his neck so he wouldn’t wander off. Aside from eating grass, does that sound familiar? But I digress.

Seven years passed, after which a merciful God restored his mind in an instant. The king spat out the grass, stood to his feet, and was restored to his throne. Here’s the critical part: Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged the God in Heaven who ruled and reigned and gave the kingdom to whomever He chose.

Scripture commands us to pray for and obey those in authority over us until they demand we do something that directly conflicts with our faith. In Daniel 6, they passed a law they knew Daniel would not obey because of his faith. He was not the kind to go along to get along. His reward was the lion’s den, and his obedience was deliverance from the lion’s den.

I pray daily for our elected leaders and will obey the laws of the land — until they violate my faith in Jesus Christ. We obey until we are told to do something we know to be illegal, immoral, unethical, or unscriptural. Then, we obey God rather than man.

I believe God has given us a window of time to pray and work to see this nation experience a move of God that will shake it to its knees. Now is not the time to take a victory lap and sit out the next four years. We need to pray daily for those in authority, including Donald Trump, that they will be led by God to see our nation’s peace, prosperity, and security restored.

Something to pray about!
Semper Fidelis