Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Acts 17:11.

Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. Psalm 25:5.

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. Proverbs 4:18.

We can read Scripture like our chapter, Romans 13, and wonder if Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, understands what He is asking of us. We know the corruption in this worlds systems of government. That is why we need trust in God. He shows us how to trust Him for understanding. Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

The light of God’s Love is more beautiful than any light we see in the physical world. We can see the beauty of the light of dawn or twilight, diffused light or the bright light of day, the light of the moon and that given by the pinpoint of distant stars. But the light of God’s love illuminates something infinitely more beautiful…His wisdom…His holiness…His faithfulness…His goodness. When I come to Him in the morning and read His word, my devotionals, and then pray…and bring to Him the messiness of the problems I am praying for myself and others, He reminds me to show His love…to let His love be evident as I trust in Him for all things…that one day the Light of His Love will go forth and give Light to all…and, that in the light of His love and His love for me, be compassionate because there is so much darkness and confusion in this world and in hearts and minds. Our God is faithful. He knows all the problems we live in and bring. There is no perfect system of government in our broken world. That is the point we need to understand. But we can trust Him as we live in this world with all its imperfections, injustices, and problems. Otherwise there is total anarchy and in that we would none of us survive long. And the amazing thing is, as I bring to Him all my worries and fears, He gives me His peace and the knowing that He is faithful. That is my hope and joy – and it is in Him. Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law…Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law…The night is almost gone and the day is near…put on the armor of light…and the Lord Jesus Christ. Be thankful that in this world that increasingly makes less and less sense, we have Creator God showing us a better way and it is with Him. Him we can trust. The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day!