There are a ton of really good podcasts - all of which are updated automatically everyday on my ipod. Last night I listened to these thoughtful words from Joni
"Seemingly random events are under God's constant control, as He works through circumstances for our benefit and His glory." Check this out.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a little Bible lesson from II Chronicles.
But the story starts in First Kings chapter 22, verse 23 where it says, “The Lord has decreed disaster for you." Yikes! Scary words, right? Well, let me put them in context, because these words made wicked King Ahab very nervous, as well. After all, he was going into battle the next day. And King Ahab definitely did not want to get himself killed in battle. So for precaution, Ahab forced an allied king to go out onto the battlefield decked out in royal attire, while he himself dressed like a common soldier. King Ahab thought that the enemy would mistake his ally for himself. He thought he had everybody fooled. But this plot of switching the armor failed big time. In fact, II Chronicles chapter 18 describes how King Ahab bit the dust. It says, "But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. Then at sunset he died." Wow!
Amazing! Here an enemy archer shot "at random," yet if ever an arrow had someone's name on it, this one did. How did God do that? How does God decree that something should happen – plan for it to happen – but accomplish His ends through a willy-nilly arbitrary act, like shooting an arrow at random? I mean, there were dozens of soldiers within the range of that archer on the battlefield. And I don’t know what that archer was thinking, but he took his pick and – twang! – what luck! He just killed his nation's foremost enemy, the wicked King Ahab. He achieved his army's top priority, and he didn't even know it.
What we do know is that it was no accident. God somehow planted a thought in the archer's mind to aim "thataway," and the arrow did the rest. And it all fell securely within God's amazing and mysterious decree. The decree stated clearly by the prophet in I Kings chapter 22, verse 23, “The Lord has decreed disaster for you, King Ahab." Oh, friend, let this Bible story and its lesson sink in for a moment. Because what it teaches is that there are no accidents in the Christian's life. God doesn't take His hand off the wheel of your life for a nanosecond. He’s not looking the other way, or off tending to the needs of more obedient saints when hardships hit us broadside. What appear to be "random crazy acts," God says all fall within His purview. Just consider that. Have cruel or careless people broken your heart or stolen your dreams? By the time their sin splashed onto your life, it was the will of God for you, the God who loves you intensely. And somehow, someway, God is going to work it all out for your benefit and blessing, as well as to bring glory for Himself.
I can’t begin to tell you what a comfort this little lesson is to me in my wheelchair. It tells me that God is sovereign, that nothing can touch me (not even a willy-nilly random dive-into-shallow-water) that has not first been filtered through the wise and caring fingers of God. My accident was, well, it really was no accident at all. I thank Him that every haphazard or hit-and-miss circumstance in my life falls under the Lord’s overarching decrees. And you know – you just have to know – that it’s all for your good. I mean, if God loves you enough to die for you, don’t you think He has your best interests at heart? So today, join me in thanking God for His overarching decrees, we may not understand them all, but we certainly can trust His heart.
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