After God humbled Nebuchadnezzar, a pagan king, in Daniel 4:17, the king made a remarkable statement that held implications for us to submit to God by submitting to man’s government. He said, "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men."

God is absolutely independent—subject to no one and dependent on no one. According to Scripture, God does what he wants. "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10). "He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand" (Daniel 4:35).

Now, this doesn't mean God is responsible for the sins people commit; it means that God permits the will of people to be executed within the restraints of His sovereign control.

Further, God overrules in political affairs as we see in the rest of Daniel 4:17: "The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men."

This verse tells us God appoints human government, and He allows the worst people to rule. Think of Pharaoh, Herod the Great, Antiochus Epiphanes, and Nebuchadnezzar. Now, this doesn't mean God approved of all of their actions, but He reserved control of their appointment.

To us as Christians, this means that no matter what the form of government is, we have a responsibility to submit to human authority. We are, of all people, expected to be model citizens.

In Psalm 62:11 David wrote, "God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God." Jesus Christ said to Pontius Pilate, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above" (John 19:11).

In Romans 13, Paul wrote, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves" (vv. 1-2).

There is no civil government that exists apart from the authority of God. You might ask, "But what about cruel or unfair governments?" When Paul wrote Romans 13, Caesar Nero was in power, the man who ordered the execution of thousands of Christians.

Wicked rulers are sometimes used by God to punish nations and to purify God's people. The early church flourished under the persecution of the Roman government.

No matter how bad things get, the gospel will never be hindered.

Is there ever a time to violate a government's rule and not submit? Yes. We see it in Daniel 3, when his friends refused to bow to an idol, and in Exodus 1, when the midwives disobeyed Pharaoh’s order to kill all the Hebrew male children.

And in Acts 4, the apostles disobeyed an edict to not preach the gospel or teach anymore in the name of Jesus Christ, saying, "We must obey God rather than men" (see v. 19). So, whenever a government commands us to do what God forbids, or forbids us to do what God commands, we are called to obey a higher law—God's law.

Our relationship to human authority is to respect it, submit to it, support it with taxes, pray for it, and occasionally to disobey it—if, and only if, it violates God's law.

Make sure you pray for the government even if you don't like your elected leaders. It's an aspect of submission. And of course, the first and most important step is to make sure your life is submitted and surrendered to the Most High God.