As I have discussed previously on this blog, there are many who have an incorrect view of God. They view Him as a cuddly, lovey dovey, teddy bear kind of God.
This is quite different than the view God provides of Himself in Scripture. Lets look briefly at a couple of passages that deal with disaster falling upon some location.
Isaiah 45:7 I am the one who forms light and creates darkness; the one who brings about peace and creates calamity. I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things. (NET)
Amos 3:6 If an alarm sounds in a city, do people not fear? If disaster overtakes a city, is the Lord not responsible? (NET)
Too often today, we attribute such things to “mother nature”, who by the way is never mentioned, recognized or acknowledged in Scripture.
It would be wrong to assume that God is pleased when we credit such events to anyone other than Him, since He is sovereign over all things, as we see in Matthew’s gospel account:
Matthew 8:23-27 As he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And a great storm developed on the sea so that the waves began to swamp the boat. But he was asleep. So they came and woke him up saying, “Lord, save us! We are about to die!” But he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it was dead calm. And the men were amazed and said, “What sort of person is this? Even the winds and the sea obey him!” (NET)
Throughout Scripture God provides information to us so that we can learn about Him, who He is, what pleases Him, what displeases Him. That is why it is so important for us to spend time reading the Bible, so that we might be blessed to learn these things.
God has a plan for His creation and we all have some role in that plan, but we do not have standing to argue with Him about how or why He does what He does or commands what He commands. He is sovereign, He is the boss, what He says goes, whether we understand it, agree with it, like it, or not.
Isaiah 45:9-11 One who argues with his creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter, “What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill!” Danger awaits one who says to his father, “What in the world are you fathering?” and to his mother, “What in the world are you bringing forth?” This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, the one who formed him, concerning things to come: “How dare you question me about my children! How dare you tell me what to do with the work of my own hands! (NET)
Job understood that whatever came upon him was either caused or allowed by God. This is why Job did not curse God when bad things started to come upon him for no apparent reason at all.
Job 2:1-10 Again the day came when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also arrived among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, “Where do you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roving about on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a pure and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil. And he still holds firmly to his integrity, so that you stirred me up to destroy him without reason.” But Satan answered the Lord, “Skin for skin! Indeed, a man will give up all that he has to save his life! But extend your hand and strike his bone and his flesh, and he will no doubt curse you to your face!” So the Lord said to Satan, “All right, he is in your power; only preserve his life.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and he afflicted Job with a malignant ulcer from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. Job took a shard of broken pottery to scrape himself with while he was sitting among the ashes. Then his wife said to him, “Are you still holding firmly to your integrity? Curse God, and die!” But he replied, “You’re talking like one of the godless women would do! Should we receive what is good from God, and not also receive what is evil?” In all this Job did not sin by what he said. (NET)
Notice that “Job did not sin” because he did not curse God or blame God for his circumstance, but rather accepted that his circumstance somehow (even though he did not understand how) worked into God’s perfect plan and obviously beyond his understanding. Job knew that God was in control, no matter how much Job’s circumstances seemed out of control in his own eyes.
We must ask ourselves, who is our god?
Is our god in control of all things?
Does our god control the temperature of the earth?
Does our god place the rulers in power?
Does our god control the weather?
Will our god judge us for our sins?
Regardless of if He is your God or not, the real God, the creator of all things:
IS in control of ALL things
DOES control the temperature of the earth
DOES place ALL rulers in power
DOES control the weather
WILL judge us ALL for our sins
If God is grabbing your attention with these articles, He may be drawing you to Himself. Scripture says: seek Him while He may be found. Don’t put it off, pray and ask that God will give you eyes to see the truth and ears to hear the truth, ask him to help you see your sin and grant you repentance by His awesome mercy and grace.
We can do none of it on our own.
Until next time, may the Lord richly bless you and keep you.
Scripture from www.bible.org (NET)
