Confidence in God

Meditation Upon

Proverbs 16:33

For those who are satisfied to be what God has made them, it is a great joy to be informed that The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. What contentment is worked into the heart of one who is willing to be content with whatever God determines.

Obviously, the Spirit of God is not telling us that we have nothing to do. It takes effort to cast the lot into the lap. This effort is preceded by the exercise of one’s will in decision making. But there is also that hint that a decision is being made without knowing for sure what the outcome will be. In reality, doesn’t this include most of life’s decisions?

How many times have you known two individuals who have made the same decision? From all that you can see there is little to no difference in the details surrounding the decision. Yet, the outcome is very different. In one case there seems to be flourishing at every turn. In the other case difficulty, or even tragedy (think Job). No good explanation can be found to determine why the results differed. The lot is cast into the lap. Each person made decisions and proceeded with life based upon those decisions. The outcomes were not the same.

But the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. We are very aware that God has established laws of sowing and reaping in His world. Not all results, good or bad, are always a mystery. There are times in which we suffer consequences of sinful choices. There are times when we reap great blessings from choices of obedience. Yet, in the end of the day there is a principle at work that must control our expectations in all circumstances of life: the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD.

Every single detail relating to our casting the lot into the lap, including the casting and the results thereof, are under the sovereign control of our God. He has not turned His back upon us in hopes that all will work out! He is directing the whole matter with us! There is nothing that is happening that does not fit into His specific design for our lives.

This reality is troubling to one who has no confidence in God, or who is not satisfied with what God is doing. But when our hearts are humbled before the God who is responsible for our very existence, and we are convinced that He has our best interest in view, then our hearts are calmed. We can make decisions, even uncertain decisions, with full confidence that whatever happens is of the LORD. It will be OK!

When my mind is full of these kinds of meditations, it is amazing how the tensions in the torso dissolve. So, I will purpose to do according to all God reveals to me, even casting the lot, trusting Him to bring about the result that He determines is best. That sure takes a load off of me! Would it help to change things if I continued to carry the anxiety, fear, or tension that comes with trying to control the lot?

Relax, the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD!

Prayer and the Ordinary

There are times when God suspends the laws of nature, those laws that are in place to establish certainty and rule in His world. These times are normally referred to as miracles – something extraordinary. These are not the rule or the norm. It would be a very difficult world in which to live if there were no fixed laws in nature and randomness was the rule. Nevertheless, God is pleased at times to overrule or suspend some ordinary natural law in order to accomplish His purpose at any given time. Thus, while there are those events in Scripture and throughout history that defy natural explanation, most of what occurs in this world is observable and explainable.

This does not mean it is not amazing! Most of us don’t stop to really observe that which we take for granted every day. Isn’t this something of what God was teaching Job by way of questions as He took him on a survey of the universe? Nature is a testimony to the greatness and power of God! We really shouldn’t miss that due to familiarity!

How does this relate to prayer? Sometimes folks think of prayer primarily as a means to provoke the supernatural. If something supernatural doesn’t result, then prayer is not considered successful or impressive. Such thinking is similar to viewing the ordinary function of the natural world as unimpressive!

While there are supernatural things that occur in the context of prayer, this is not the primary fruit of prayer. Prayer is the means by which created humans, saved and indwelt by the Holy Spirit, are enabled to petition God and know that all things, including the ordinary things, will function together to bring about the will of God: Romans 8:27,28. 

Prayer is not a way to attempt to get God to do what we don’t want to do; or to get God to do so that we don’t have to.  Prayer is the way to seek God to direct us and to enable us and to bless what He has already given.

Jesus taught us to prayer this way: Give us this day our daily bread. But we also read in another place in the NT, if any would not work, neither should he eat. (2 Thess. 3:10) As we are praying for the provision of God, He blesses with the means! We pray for healing…and then we pursue every means that God provides (including diet, rest, exercise, surgery, etc.) trusting that God will bless the normal healing process He created! We pray for increase in the knowledge of God…and then we dig for fine gold, and work for sweet honey from Scripture! We pray for souls to be saved…and then we preach the gospel! Why? Because Jesus said, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. And, 1 Cor. 1:21, For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Prayer does not eliminate ordinary means. Prayer seeks God’s provision and blessing upon the means made available. Understanding this principle enables us to give thanks in all things and to bless Him continually – not just for that which we perceive to be “miraculous” or supernatural.

Interacting With Providence Through Prayer

It is helpful, and proper, to interact with providence through prayer. God has created us to think and reason and respond. With creative minds, an aspect of His image that we possess in a finite way, we are expected to think about life as it happens. It is with our minds that we engage in relationships. Relationship with our fellow created humanity, and fellowship with our Creator.

It is true that God is sovereign. It is true that God’s will is determinative. If God wills a matter, the matter will be. He has clearly informed us that He does whatever He pleases and that none can stop Him from accomplishing what He has determined (Psalm 115:3; Daniel 4:34,35). This is providence: God ruling over that which He has created. This is why the Apostle Paul spoke of doing certain things, if God will (Acts 18:21). James also teaches us that we should say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Yet, it is clear from numerous Biblical examples, recording for our learning, that God wants us relating to providence, not simply accepting it. Oh, it is true that we should accept God’s providence. With Job, we should say in the face of disaster: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. Jesus taught us to pray, not my will, but thine be done. We should always prefer the will of our all-wise, loving heavenly Father to our own will. His plan is perfect. We should never charge God with unrighteousness.

Yet, I repeat, God has clearly demonstrated through examples left for our instruction that He wants us approaching Him with reason and petitions that may argue against what it may seem providence has ordained. Case in point: the account of Elijah who intercedes on behalf of the widow woman who has tragically lost her son to a devastating sickness. The account is found in 1 Kings 17:17-24.

Elijah’s response to the grieving mother and the dead child is not a cold-hearted, calculated theological answer. He seems stunned by the news of his death. He takes the child to his room. It seems like he is attempting to collect himself and determine just what to do. He doesn’t simply chalk it up to providence. He doesn’t react as if there is nothing that can be done: “Providence has spoken. We must bow to God’s will and trust Him to help us through the grieving process.” This, in fact, may be the conclusion that he ultimately would come to, but that is not where he began.

Elijah, burdened that perhaps what was obviously the providence of God to that point was not the final word, cried unto the LORD. He prayed fervently. He reasoned with God, asking if this evil that was brought upon the widow woman’s son was really what He intended. Elijah was not convinced that this was the end of God’s providence in this case. He sensed that this was something he should cry out to God to correct or to change. He cries out for the soul of the child to return to his body.

Incredibly, Scripture clearly reveals this event to us in such a way that we are left encouraged that all is not simply sealed in some dark, cold fate. And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah! He heard him and responded by returning the soul of the child! The freedom of God’s will in providence was not violated. He is the One who chose to hear and respond to Elijah. There are other instances, such as David praying for the life of his sick and dying child, in which God’s will was the death of the child.

The lesson, for the purpose of this blog entry, is simply this: do not give up too quickly and easily in the face of hard providences. Cry out to the Lord, if your heart is so burdened to do so. Who knows but that your fervent prayer may be exactly what God intends in the process of carrying out His will. His providence may have brought hard things. His providence may include answering your fervent prayer. So, interact with God’s providence through prayer.

Ultimately, we must be satisfied with whatever God chooses to do in answer to our cries. This is the response of faith. This is the response of all who are convinced that God does what is best in response to the cries of His children. Our God is not a cold, inanimate force! He is the living God Who seeks worshippers.