Eternal Working
"O give thanks unto
the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever (Ps. 136:1)."
“In the day of prosperity be joyful, but
in the day of adversity consider:
God hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find
nothing after him (Eccl. 7:14).”
What wisdom and perfect involvement in all aspects of our lives!
And to think, that for His Elect, God worked it all out prior to the
start of our earthly existence.
“For we are his workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them (Eph. 2:10).”
How mind boggling that He can do this simultaneously for all his children.
What kind of God do we belong to?
All seeing, knowing, understanding, sovereign, loving, and powerful!
We see that in His natural creation (and also in the complexity of our
very own bodies). But to also take
events, people, situations, jobs, circumstances, chastening, blessings, time,
family, nature, etc., and mode a saint for eternity is absolutely phenomenal!
Imagine the level and degree of mathematical permutations that must be
involved! It is no wonder the
Psalmist declares (more than once):
“O that men would praise the Lord for his
goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men (Ps. 107:21)!”
King David captured this wonderful eternal working in the following verses:
“I will cry unto God most high; unto God
that performeth all things for me. Ps. 57:2.”
“The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever:
forsake not the works of thine own hands (Ps. 138:8).”
“How precious also are thy thoughts unto
me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them they are more in number than the sand: when I
awake, I am still with thee (Ps. 139:17-18).”
The verses above demonstrate the magnificent magnitude of His involvement
with absolutely every aspect of our existence - past, present, and future
(remember, He stated to the Prophet Jeremiah
“Before I formed thee in the belly, I
knew thee; …”). This is
entirely consistent with the often quoted verse from Jeremiah 29:11:
“For I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an
expected end.”
So lovely and eloquent.
Paul also provides us with wonderful summations in the following verses:
“And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to
his purpose (Rom. 8:28).”
“He that spared not his own Son, but
delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all
things (Rom. 8:32)?”
“Therefore let no man glory in men, for
all things are yours; Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life
or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; And ye are
Christ’s; and Christ is God’s (I Cor. 3:21-23).”
Again, the verses above show that as citizens of the Kingdom of God, all things are done for and not against us in accordance with God’s good will, sovereign grace, and bountiful economy. In the long view, even the challenging situations and persons involved should only be viewed as a means to bring us closer to God. So much so that in the analogy where the servants wished to uproot the tares, scripture explains:
"...Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn (Mt. 13:29-30)."
Catching a glimpse of the exceptionally abundant love, care, and purpose shown by
all of these wonderful scriptures will inspire and immensely increase our
commitment to God and let us know without equivocation, that we owe and should
devote absolutely every part of ourselves and lives to His eternal will, path,
and purpose. Glory to God in the
highest! Hosanna!