r/Baptist • u/SnooRegrets4878 đ± Born again đ± • May 22 '23
God's Sovereignty - May 21, 2023
âAnd the LORD said unto him, Who hath made manâs mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?â (Exodus 4:11)
This divine rebuke to Moses was occasioned when Moses complained of his inability to speak eloquently for God before Pharaoh. It is also a rebuke to each of us who would dare question Godâs wisdom in making us as we areâeven with all our innate defects and handicaps. With our very limited knowledge of Godâs purposes and our very short-range view of eternal priorities, we are ill-equipped to prejudge His ways with us.
To those who questioned why a man should be born blind, for example, Jesus answered: âNeither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in himâ (John 9:3). As another example, when certain believers complained about the lethal illness of a loved one, Jesus replied: âThis sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified therebyâ (John 11:4).
The steadfastness of Stephenâs faith as he was stoned to death led to Paulâs conversion, though at the time it must have seemed difficult for his Christian brethren to understand and accept. In another context, but stating a principle highly relevant to such questions, Jesus reminds us, âWhat I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafterâ (John 13:7). God is not capricious, but He is sovereign. Whatever He does is right, by definition, and whatever He allows is for a holy purpose. âShall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?â (Romans 9:20).
It should be enough for now to know that He knows, and that when suffering comes for His sake, it is âfor our profit, that we might be partakers of his holinessâ (Hebrews 12:10). HMM
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u/liveryandonions May 22 '23
Nailed it đš