The Lord does all these things


I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. Isaiah 45:7 ESV
            In context God is speaking of the coming conquest of Israel and Judah by Babylon and later Persia. The chosen people will be exiled from the promise land as discipline, and God uses the conquering pagans as His rod. Cyrus will be the one to end the exile, see Ezra 1, Cyrus does not know God, and yet he is being used by God. He is being used in a very interesting way by God. The empire Cyrus inherits has conquered the promise land, subdued its people, scattered them in exile, and even defiled and plundered the temple. God says it is for His people sake this is done, and yet to His people it appears they are undone. Indeed, there is a whole book dedicated to just how bad these events are: Lamentations. In must have seemed a hopeless situation.
            We like to zoom out on all of this, and we ought to zoom out on it; and we can because we know the rest of the story. What was only a prophecy in those dark days has come to pass now. We know the rest of the story. From this we should affirm in words and actions the theology of this verse. God is sovereign, He is working in everything. Paul tells us in Romans 8:28 that all these things must work to the good of those who serve God. But Paul also tells us that we see as in a mirror dimly: 1 Corinthians 13:12. What we think is good may not be good, and what we think is bad may not be bad. God works on an eternal scale; we work too often in the space of the moment.  That is to say we are generally short sighted.
            This is a very dangerous defect for us and one we must work to overcome. For we find ourselves in the midst of an ongoing battle, in which our enemy is vastly superior Ephesians 6:12. We need to consider where our enemy is and what he is doing, in sort we need to think carefully for there are forces at work which are beyond us.  Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to have a totally different understanding of the world around us, a completely different pattern of thought. We know something the world does not know; we have wisdom with the right foundation as we fear the Lord Proverbs 1:7. We need to think biblically for this is the only sort of thinking which has any hope of prevailing. God promised a relief from captivity, a return to the land, a restoration, an end to the discipline. He promises this before the time of exile begins, and He knew exactly how He would bring His people back. God knew from before the foundation of the world how He would deliver from the tyranny of sin, and clutches of our enemy.
There is room in the Christian life for precaution and preparedness, but not for panic and fear. We must be careful above all that our precaution does not become an excuse for disobedience. We must be very careful not to undermine our theology by our actions. We should be looking for God’s hand in each situation, not simply as a means of deliverance for He often calls His people to pass through such trials as this see Jeremiah and Daniel among others. We should be looking to see what He is doing so we can join in the work. Put another way we should always seek to be aware of the dangers and the opportunities of the gospel mission at all times. Resting at all times in the knowledge that God is in control, and His plans will not be undone.
Prayer
Lord you are sovereign in all things; Your ways are higher than our ways as the heavens are higher than the earth. You have ordained the course of history to the ultimate good of redemption through Christ and the establishment of His Kingdom in glory. You work to make us like Him, to make us righteous, but we do not always perceive this work as it is done. Help us Lord to see more clearly, and where we cannot see let us walk by faith. Guard us against the machinations of the enemy, and help us to avoid his many snares set in our way. In all things may we act according to Your good and perfect will, proving what is wisdom and what is faith. May the world seeing the difference in us come to see You and esteem Your ways. Lord may Your will be done to Your glory now and forever. Amen.
Song
God moves in a mysterious way

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