Ordained by God?  The thirteenth chapter of Romans tells us that, believe it or not, governments are ordained by God.  Huh?  While most people cite Adolf Hitler as the prime example of the seeming foolishness of this contention, I will mention instead the steady increase in authoritarian regimes in Latin America.  From the standpoint of one who has been raised in one of the freest societies in the world, I find this development alarming.  Sure, as some citizens of these countries with whom I talk about this say, these "strongmen" are restoring order.  And sure, as these people add, such men may inspire the nation to new heights of paheights of patriotism.  But at what price?

       The bigger question, however, is this:  what is God thinking?  If he is sovereign--and I believe he is (even while I underscore that this is a very loaded term)--how we do understand such things?

     The short answer is that I do not know.  I do not pretend to understand how divine sovereignty and human choice come together.  No one should.  The much longer--and impossibly difficult to grasp and comprehend--answer is that in the face of such anomaly, we have two choices.  One, we can dismiss any thought of God and go on, our vision the product of our own efforts and imagination.  Two, we can continue to believe in God and go on, our vision rather the work of trust, a trust born of unremitting belief in the ultimate goodness of God.                                             

     Is this easy?  Absolutely not.  Is it rational?  Absolutely.  Ultimately, all Latin American strongmen aside, God will prevail.