Who's in charge?

This morning I was reading in Jeremiah and came to these words-

Jer 27:4 "Command them to go to their masters, saying, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, thus you shall say to your masters,
Jer 27:5 "I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight.

It struck me that I live in a culture that has the perception that WE decide who is in charge. In fact that's not the case at all. God says over and over in the Bible that he places the leaders in place he wants, but what frightens us is seeing WHO he places in leadership. After the words above are these-

Jer 27:6 "Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him.

It was hard for the people of Israel to understand how God could do such a thing. Nebuchadnezzar was very violent, cruel and wicked ruler. His exploits are legendary. I know my question to Jeremiah would have been, "how can God do that?" I often forget that God has a divine plan and is bringing that plan to it's final chapter. The best news to me in our time is not that the next leader of our country is a republican or democrat, but that God is in charge. That makes me smile, even when I don't know how we will ever survive the leader of the day......God is in charge.

Oh, and in case it's not clear he's in charge of his church as well. Having a sovereign God is a very comforting thing.