Hey! Who's in charge around here anyway?

I remember as a leader in vacation Bible school one year, we had a difficult little girl who always balked at authority. She questioned her teacher's words; she tested the rules every day.

Once, when her behavior was causing a disturbance and was a possible danger to herself, I told her to stop what she was doing right now! She looked at me and proclaimed, "You are not the boss of me!"

I replied that she was mistaken in that because her parents had put her welfare in my care. What she was doing was dangerous not only to her but also to her classmates, and while she was here in VBS, I was the boss of her. She wasn't happy but stopped her behavior, at least for a while.

In our world today, there are people who constantly balk at the power and leadership of God Almighty, whether it is a nation's leader, a nation itself or even on an individual level, and they need to be forewarned. Things need to be put in a proper perspective about exactly who is in charge around here! When Job was calling on God for a meeting with Him about the issues going on in his life, God answered Job with these words, "Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?"

"He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding" (Jeremiah 51:15).

When we pretend that we are in charge, we are reminded pretty quickly and usually with egg on our faces that we aren't nearly as powerful or knowledgeable as we thought. That is why humility before God and the authority of God needs to be a virtue in all of us, but especially in our leaders. Some of our greatest leaders understood that fact.

From two of our constitutional signers, John Hancock and John Adams, "We recognize no sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!"

From George Washington, our first president, "It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly implore His protection and favor" (1789).

From Abraham Lincoln in 1863, "Whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God ..."

From Grover Cleveland in 1885, "And let us not trust to human effort alone, but humbly acknowledge the power and goodness of Almighty God, who presides over the destiny of nations, and who has at all times been revealed in our country's history, let us invoke His aid and His blessings upon our labors."

One more from George W. Bush, "Events are not moved by blind change and chance. Behind all of life and all of history, there's a dedication and purpose, set by the hand of a just and faithful God. And that hope will never be shaken" (2003).

May all those in leadership in our nation look to God for wisdom and leading. May the people of America realize the blessings of our past and present are from people who revered God and recognized His Sovereignty.

Who's in charge today? Politicians may think they are, terrorists may think they are, the rich may think they are, people in high positions may think they are, your wife or husband may think they are, but the truth be told, God is in control. He always was and always will be.

Pray hard and keep your faith in God alone.

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Metcalf is pastor of Forest Hills Church, an American Baptist congregation. Email her at [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column don't necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.

Religion on 08/13/2014