Image via Wikipedia- Ezra 1:1-2:70
- Psalm 96:7-12
- Proverbs 20:5-6
- Acts 27:1-20
The sea is unforgiving and indiscriminate. All of Mother Nature is, for that matter. Elsewhere Scripture says that it rains on the just and the unjust alike. Disease strikes wealthy, poor, Christian, heathen, good, evil, and all skin colors. Life isn't fair and nature doesn't care.
Things happen. Some say everything happens for a reason. Others say the laws of nature are set in motion and God does not interfere. They say God is the watch maker; He created all that we see, set the laws of nature and physics in motion (wound the watch) and walked away.
Personally, I don't buy either extreme view. I don't believe that EVERYTHING happens for a reason any more than I believe that God set it all up and walked away. I am perfectly comfortable with God setting up some things to happen as a course of nature and physics, while in other instances, God may manipulate events or circumstances to work out His will for His Glory. He is God. He can do that. We are not God. We have no say in the matter. I'm OK with that.
All that to say this, Paul experienced the hardship of being lost at sea in a fierce storm. He went without food or water for many days. If he somehow survived the storm, he faced the high likelihood of death at the hands of the crew. I don't know if God caused the storm. It matters little to me. I do know that God called Paul. Paul obeyed. God empowered Paul to do His will. God used Paul to reach a lot of people with the Gospel and his influence is still felt today.
Regardless of the cause of the difficulties in our lives, we can never be certain of the origins; but we can be certain that God will be glorified. We get to choose to willingly let our situation be used for God's glory and our good, or we can choose to let our situation be used for our destruction and Gods' glory. That's the choice we all face in all our situations.
In your blog you said that your a minster of Ed. and your comments on God & nature is mind boggling. To say that God is in control sometimes is to not understand the Word of God. Read the entire Psalms 148 and it will tell you that the Lord uses the weather for His bidding. Everything happens according to the Lord Jesus' will and plan....weather and anything in heaven and under heaven. You said that you want people to start to read the Bible that's great but, I hope that you take your own advice which is a great one by the way but not only read but also study. What I read in the "LOST AT SEA" is not Biblical. I hope you understand why I'm writing this comment....it is not because I want to be mean and say negative things to you but that as a believer in Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior I want to point out Biblical errors that you have said about the nature of God. My hope is that you may rethink what you wrote and go back to the scriptures with the help of the Holy Spirit and truly understand God's sovereignty over everything.
ReplyDeleteThank you, first of all, for actually reading what I wrote. I haven't written in this blog for quite some time. Thanks for reminding me about it! And I appreciate the opportunity to clarify my thoughts and engage in an intelligent discourse on the subject.
ReplyDeleteI re-read the post with your comments in mind. I hope you noted that the blog heading states that the writings here are intentionally kept brief. This is because the readers were being encouraged to read the Bible through in a year. The blogs were intended to support that challenge. The blog wasn't ever intended to be taken as a comprehensive discourse on any topic. Keeping it brief meant no rabbit chasing! This post was a comment about God's glory and our opportunity to be a tool used for His glory for our benefit or to our detriment. Either way, God will be glorified.
However, I feel no restriction against engaging you in a lengthy response to your comments. So, if you really want to know what I believe about the sovereignty of God and His actions within nature, read on...
You interpreted my position as un-biblical and summarized it as saying "God is in control sometimes". Perhaps I expressed myself poorly, trying to be brief. But then again, perhaps you too have chosen your words poorly. Let's find out.
When you object to my position that things in nature typically happen without a direct causation from God, are you implying that God did not establish rules of nature that can be observed, measured, recorded, evaluated, and even predicted by man? (If so, read Jeremiah 31:35-37, and re-read your psalm - 148) If this is your position, then I need for you to explain to me how any unexplainable act of nature would be miraculous from a man's perspective? How wold God receive the glory due Him when He intervenes if man perceived nature as just random and unpredictable phenomenon and not governed by the laws God established upon creation and maintains today?
I believe God knows all and is in all. The count of every hair on our heads, the quantity of water held in every drop of rain, the height of every wave in the ocean, the origin and dimensions of each grain of sand, are all implicitly known by our sovereign and good God. (See Isaiah 40:12)
But that does not mean that He is not operating in and among the laws of nature He has established for His glory! Hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornadoes, wild fires, thunder showers, and diseases happen. Ordinarily, they are caused by other related and observable actions of nature. Ordinarily, they in turn cause other related and observable reactions in nature--- because of the laws God has established to serve Him and His purpose for His glory.
The moment the ordinary acts of nature operating within His command do not serve His glory, God, by an act of His sovereign will, initiates, suspends, or alters any activity as He desires. By His will He can adjust the course and strength of the hurricane, diminish the size or the speed of the tsunami, dissipate the tornado, rain on or spread the flames of a wildfire, send lightening to a tree instead of a home, or heal the individual of the cancer that was naturally caused by the smoker's bad habit.
Now that's not to say that God cannot strike an individual with cancer or initiate a natural disaster when it accomplishes His purpose. The Bible is full of accounts of these events. To name a few... creation itself, the parting of waters, water flowing from a rock, the lengthening of a day, a floating ax head, multiplying food, manna and quail, walking on water, healing the sick, raising the dead, on and on and on. God certainly does suspend the laws of nature and physics --- and we call it a miracle.
I have more to say on this, but I had to delete it because of Blogger limitations. I hope you respond with your thoughts.
Blessings Brother!