Not His ways so much as Him! Yet “theologians” or “studiers of God” presume otherwise.
And how ingrained it is in our very carnal natures the thought or belief that somehow we are in control to some extent of our destinies and the destinies of others. How frustrated we get at our failures and at the failures of others when we do not understand that all things, great and small, good and evil, obviously and otherwise are indeed in His hands, that He rules over all. How unforgiving we can be toward others for the evil the Lord has sent our way by them for our good, and toward ourselves for the evil He sent to others by us for their good, not that we can justify ourselves.
We seek to do good as we learn. But we must also learn that even our mistakes and evils have served in their place for the time and though these things are to be repented of, they are also to be recognized as purposeful and to be forgotten in the sense of continual regret.
And how fretful we are when we find certain circumstances and events are entirely in disagreement to us and beyond our control. But if we know the Lord, and if we know that He is in full control of all and that all He does is for our good, we can indeed forgive, forget and rest.
The wisdom of God is unsearchable, His ways past finding out;
His thoughts and His actions high above ours, we don’t know what He’s about.
Moses He sends to save Israel and Pharaoh’s heart He hardens,
And both are found faithful in doing His bidding, both by His Son He pardons.
Nebuchadnezzar, a heathen king, was known as a servant of God,
Who was instrumental in binding God’s children, and removing them from their sod.
We hate the name of Babylon, for all that it is and stands
Yet the Almighty Father, the Sovereign Supreme, is Maker and Breaker of lands.
The nation of Israel is cast away so that the road for the Gentiles is paved,
Then after the Jews have killed their Messiah, God declares all Israel saved.
Among the faithful there must needs be heresies, Satan is loosed for a time;
Samson slays 3000 in blindness, tasting honey from the corpse of a lion.
We think God cast Satan to Hell but we read that he came to His throne
And received God’s permission to take on a mission
Of destroying the kingdom of Job.
When we are purged of our thinking, receiving the mind of the Lord,
We discover all things are with purpose…even famine, and sickness and sword.
To the pure are all things pure and to God we give thanks in all things,
And know that the negative develops the positive, the evil goodness brings.
Rejoice all those who have the light, let joy reign in your heart!
For nothing in this entire universe can force us from God to part!
Closed doors to what we’ve had, open doors to better things still;
This is a law which one cannot break any more than stopping God’s will.
All things work together for good though at first we don’t understand,
But one truth must be understood: Our lives are in His hand.
Dauphin, 1978, 79
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