Scripture: “Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord, give praise O servants of the Lord—who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God!
Praise the Lord for the Lord is good; sing to his name, for it is pleasant…For I know the Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
He it was who struck down the firstborn of Egypt (both man and beast); who in your midst O Egypt, sent signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants…” (excerpts from Ps 135:1-9)
Observation: The Lord is good. What the Lord pleases, He does. This is the character of God (He is Good) and the attributes of God (He is Sovereign). God acts on his own definition, character, and attributes of Himself. What happens when what His is conflicts with what we think He should be? Am I beginning to see an idol on the horizon?
Analysis: “Why does God do it this way, instead of that?” What I just wrote would be how I would like to portray myself: “Just curious, God. Can’t blame me for curiosity, right?” I just spun this in a way that is favorable towards me, a spin that is benign and reasonable.
Being fiercely transparent, this is how my thinking really goes, “Why did God do it that way? I wouldn’t have done it that way.” Insinuation: God wasn’t right; He was wrong—and I disapprove how He did it.
The serpent tempted Adam and Eve from way back. “Here, here,” he hissed and whispered, “Did God really say that? Look, if you ate of the fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil Tree, isn’t it reasonable that you would be like God? Just think how much more of a friend you would be? You could carry on conversations as equals….” And from there our attitude changed into rebellious, traitorous, sin. Idolatry prevailed because now Man didn’t want God, he wanted what he thought a god should be.
Idolatry is never more exposed as when disasters and atrocities occur.
I am not immune to the above thoughts…I just cannot let them take predominance in my mind. Even if I cannot explain what Eternal God has done/allowed, I cannot let my “mud for brains” thinking (I am made from clay, remember?) take charge over what the Word says about His Sovereignty.
What do I do in those circumstances? Well, for one I don’t think I must have an answer for everything in this universe, large or small. I often resort to that honorable, theological answer: “I don’t know.”
And I am content to know when God eventually wants me to know. Refer to Deut 29:29 for further clarification.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your Sovereignty is something that my sinful state has a hard time getting around. There is much “renewing of my mind” that continues to go on. Going from my temporal, human perspective to thinking (in as much as my “mud for brains” head can handle) to trying to think biblically (kind of thinking eternally), is hard work and takes daily reinforcement and repetition. I guess this is another example of the imperative to “Encourage/Exhort one another day by day, as long as it is called today, so thatnone of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin” AMEN