Who is regulating affairs on this earth today: God, or the Devil? That God reigns supreme in Heaven, is generally conceded; but that He reigns supreme over this earth, is almost universally denied if not directly, then indirectly. More and more are men relegating God to the background, in their philosophizing and theorizing. Take the material realm. Not only is it denied that God created everything, by personal and direct action, but few believe that He has any immediate concern in regulating the works of His own hands.
It is common to hear disasters explained as impersonal "Forces of Nature," or mere outcomes of "Natural Laws," or "Bad Luck." Yet Scripture shatters that notion: War, pestilence, floods, storms, earthquakes, fires all flow from the eternal decree and providential governance of our holy God. When hurricanes lash the coast, or fires consume forests we must not bow the knee to the myth of "Mother Nature" but humble ourselves before the One who "commands and raises the stormy wind." (Psalm 107:25)
Nahum 1:3, "He displays his power in the whirlwind and the storm. The billowing clouds are the dust beneath His feet." Every blast of wind and crack of thunder, fulfill His wise and holy will.
When disaster strikes, our natural impulse is fear and bewilderment. Yet believers are called to recognize God's sovereign hand in every storm and tempest of life. We do not cower at chance events, for there is no "chance" with Him. We should pray with assurance, knowing that "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28)
Earth and air, fire and water, hail and snow, stormy winds and angry seas all perform His sovereign pleasure. It is God who withholds the rain, and it is God who gives the rain when He wills, where He wills, as He wills, and on whom He wills.
Either God governs or He is governed. Either God rules or He is ruled. Either God has His way or men have theirs.
No revolving world, no shining of star, no storm, no creature moves, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of Devil nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass, otherwise than what God has eternally purposed.
Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil but the Lord Almighty who is ruling His world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory!
[A. W. Pink]
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Ecclesiastes 7:14 ... In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.
Isaiah 45:6-7 ... That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
Psalm 135:6 ... Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places. ❤