These all seem pretty simple don't they. Wisdom literature always feels like two
things to me, common sense and obedience to revelation. All the people who seek out high office in
the Old Testament are people who shouldn't have the office at all. Those whom the Lord raises up He also gifts
and prepares for the work. Humility in
all things is based in trust in Him who is sovereign over all things. Too often we fail to trust Him and we find
ourselves in places where we are over our heads. When we follow Him we find ourselves over our
heads as well but then we are in a place where we can see Him do remarkable
things. If we follow the devices and
desires of our own hearts we soon have ethical or moral dilemmas in front of us
to keep the position we have gotten by those devices. Seeking position and getting it by those
devices leads to further capitulation to worldly vices. All these things are interconnected, it all
begins with resting in the sovereignty of God.
When Jesus sent out the seventy-two they were unequipped to
provide for their own needs, no money, no bag, nothing. They were to trust that the Lord would
provide for their needs through other means, generally people. Every mission trip I have ever been involved
in has been well resourced from the start, attempting to anticipate and provide
for every possible need. Radical trust
is something we all need to develop in our lives. Sometimes it means that we are called to sell
all we have and sell it to the poor and sometimes God takes our security away
from us without permission or consent. In
all things, He is calling us to complete dependence on Him, teaching us about
sovereignty. If we want to see Him move
and work we usually need to be in places where we can't move and act independently
and we don't like that place. Mostly our
lives are designed so that we avoid those situations.
Can you imagine half an hour of silence in heaven? That is what happens when the lamb opens the
seventh seal. In that silence angels are
given trumpets and an angel throws incense on the fire, the prayers of the
saints rise before the throne, and the angel throws fire down on the
earth. Then, and only then, do the
angels with trumpets blow them. This judgment
is a solemn and horrible thing and silence is the proper attitude towards the
destruction of the good creation. The Lord
who created all things now destroys it. He
alone has the right and power to do so. The
sovereignty of God is a comforting doctrine on the one hand and on the other it
is fearsome. Which side of that are you
on?
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