3 Reflections on How God Orders Things for Our Benefit
It’s amazing how God orders things so that people will find Him.
Acts chapter 15 says: 12 And all the assembly fell silent, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul as they related what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. 13 After they finished speaking, James replied, “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has related how God first visited the Gentiles, to take from them a people for his name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written,
16 “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, 17 that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things18 known from of old.’
19 Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, 20 but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues.”
You never know what impact your simple words will have on those whom you interact with. It is a pleasure to know that our humility and grace is being used by God to stir the hearts of this world.
The apostles had seen Jesus. Alive. Then dead. Then alive again. It caused them to never shy away from the message they were to give. The beatings and whippings they endured didn’t matter. They had seen the Resurrected Christ, and nothing else mattered. Even they, the apostles, had been given an ordered sampling of God’s intention for all men to be saved by seeing Jesus alive again.
Sometimes we lose heart, feeling like we are having little impact on the changing world around us. Yet, as it changes, God moves with it. He is intentional about the stirring that lives within the hearts of all men to search for something different and greater. As we become more and more unsatisfied with what we have, God is pleased when the search leads to Him, where all men might find satisfaction.
A few thoughts on God’s ordering of things:
(1) Because of sin, we all are Gentiles
Because of sin, we all are cast out of redemptive hope. And so, God must call us, Gentiles, who have no hope by ourselves, back to Him, and remind us that His love is the triumph over all things. It is only through Him that we are chosen. It is only through Him that we are able to share in what is to come.
We share this common humanity with all people. As God calls us, He is calling all of those who are still searching for what will bring satisfaction. It is our good pleasure to be a part of that mission, because we don’t wish the label of Gentile to be on even one person when God returns. Sin cannot win.
(2) God returns, and returns, and returns
God continues to be amongst us. It is His promise to the church that He loves, but also to a world that exists beyond the walls of the churches of Christendom. The world is not one, big church. There are a lot of areas that need restoration. We don’t own it all, God does. And so the places that find themselves in shadows, God must illuminate. It is those places, places we are afraid to go to or don’t presently have the resources to reach, that God Himself returns to with His message. In those places He builds and rebuilds, speaks and speaks again, loves and never stops loving, so that His message always has the opportunity to be heard and seen. God promises that, when walls crumble, there is still hope in Him.
This does not let us off the hook for doing what we can and should be doing to reach those affected areas. It sure does help when people see other people stirred by the Gospel reaching out to them. But, there is nowhere, on this earth, that is completely devoid of the message of God in Jesus Christ.
(3) God’s order brings freedom
There are some things that we, when we turn to Christ, are bound to obey. But, then there are the senseless regulations that so many groups seek to impose that are simply man-made rules that make us happy, yet cause unneeded burdens on those who long to follow Jesus. We must be aware of what we do so that the freedom of Christ is able to lead people to salvation. We must be intentional about what is to be followed as a part of God’s will for all men, and what we have chosen because of our need to be organized into a group (called Church).
God designs His way so that the world might find freedom. Are we getting in the way of that freedom?
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Celebrate the order that God brings to an unstable world. In the chaos, He is there. In the serene, He is there. In all things, He is there. Amen.
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