Romans 13:1 Let every individual be obedient to those who rule over him; for no one is a ruler except by God's permission, and our present rulers have had their rank and power assigned to them by Him.

The words of Romans 13:1-7 conflict with the attitude of today's society towards Government. Instead of showing respect towards our Government leaders, we are more preoccupied with criticizing and finding fault. No human is perfect. Everyone has their faults. Romans 13:1 says that no one is a ruler except by God's permission. That means God picks who our leaders are. We may do the voting, but God's hand is in the decision making. God has picked the rulers of this world from the beginning and they all had problems. None of them would hold up under today's fault finding of our leaders. God has had a plan for this world since the beginning. His hand is constantly shaping the events that take place through out time. That doesn't mean that everything will be perfect and easy. There is another force in a battle with God. It has to be a fair fight. God has to allow the other side to have it's say and do it's dirty deeds. But God will win. Not only will God win, but He will win fairly and leave no doubts in anyone's mind.

Romans 13:2 Therefore the man who rebels against his ruler is resisting God's will; and those who thus resist will bring punishment upon themselves.

Since God has picked our rulers, by not obeying or showing them respect we are going against God's will. We're fighting His plan and according the Romans 13:2 the person who fights God's will brings punishment upon themselves. Anytime we step out of the will of God, we end up stepping into the will of the devil. There are only two sides. God or the devil. If we're not living in God's will then we're living in the devil's will and that only leads to unhappiness and destruction.

Romans 13:3, 4, 5 For judges and magistrates are to be feared not by right-doers but by wrong-doers.  You desire--do you not? --to have no reason to fear your ruler. Well, do the thing that is right, and then he will commend you. For he is God's servant for your benefit.    But if you do what is wrong, be afraid. He does not wear the sword to no purpose: he is God's servant--an administrator to inflict punishment upon evil-doers. We must obey therefore, not only in order to escape punishment, but also for conscience' sake.

Notice that last text. Our reason for obeying is not to escape punishment. It is because our conscience won't let us do anything different. If we are living in God's will and He is working in our lives, we will drive the speed limit, pay our taxes, obey the laws, because of our love for God and our desire to do His will.

Romans 13:6,7 Why, this is really the reason you pay taxes; for tax-gatherers are ministers of God, devoting their energies to this very work. Pay promptly to all men what is due to them: taxes to those to whom taxes are due, toll to those to whom toll is due, respect to those to whom respect is due, honour to those to whom honour is due.

I'm sure no one thinks of the IRS as ministers of God, but that is what the text is saying. Because they are upholding the law created by the rulers God chose. Are there crooked people in the IRS or in Government? Yes. Read your Bible, every ruler had his problems and there were crooked tax collectors, but God put those people in those positions. God chose Herod, the king who tried to kill Jesus when He was born. God also chose Pilate, who was afraid to take a stand against the people and turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. It's important to notice that Jesus never argued or fought the authorities. Instead He remained humble and allowed them to kill Him. He had the power to stick up for His rights. He could have performed miracles that would have left no doubt who He was. He had the power to do a lot of damage to those people, but instead, He went humbly, spoke truthfully, and respectfully to those in authority.

Resist the urge to criticize our Government. Obey and show them respect. Recognize God is in charge of everything, including our leaders, and live in the will of God.