These Days

WOW – we are in the midst of challenging, pressing, changing, and different days!

Suddenly, we hear a lot about social distancing or community spread.  We hear about circuit breakers.  And we think about the National Guard called out to help deal with the county of Westchester, New York.

As of today, the NBA is on pause and the Big Ten conference basketball tournament was cancelled today along with some other conferences.

Then there is the swift and colossal shift in the fortunes of Joe Biden.  Also, very interesting is a political party at one time offering 22 diverse candidates competing to be their nominee for the Presidency now reduced to three and then cutting out the one candidate still giving it a diversity tag – the woman (forbidden from the debate stage this Sunday).  So much for diversity and inclusion!

Yet, all is well! That is, God’s program is exactly on track and there is not one thing happening here that was not foreknown by Him and that He is not allowing.  God uses “wolves”, bitter ingredients (God is baking a cake), pain, loss, death, Satan, evil, and injustice to move people toward the cross and for those saved, to move them along in their faith.  Romans 8:28, We know that ALL things work together for good for those who love God!  Oh, may our love deepen and flourish!

Then the pagan holiday looms – St. Patrick’s Day.  In so many ways it depicts the United States: what started out to honor a faithful servant of God has been turned into a drunken, selfish party.  As a country, God richly blessed us giving us fabulous leadership, great documents, a land “flowing with milk and honey”, unmerited success in conflicts, and a giving heart.  What a legacy!  Much to be celebrated!  Instead, we have pushed the thought of God aside and turned His riches into self-promotion and self-gratification, like what has happened with St. Patrick’s Day.

While I don’t buy into any of the Catholic thing about saints and miracles attributed to them, I do think we are wise to be students of history to realize God’s hand that should cause us to both glorify Him and seek to please Him more.  God has raised up strong Christians around the world and empowered them to do great things for Him.  I am thankful for those “saints” and for the role they played in history for His glory.

One more point: Yesterday I viewed a presentation on miracles by a well known Christian speaker.  For 55 minutes he argued that God is still in the miracle doing business telling story after story.  And not one – not one – Bible verse or Bible story – NOT ONE!  Come on!

It is curious to me how there are spectacular miracles of people being raised from the dead – but always in Africa or India!  And there is nothing about such an incredible thing coming through the world’s news.  I would think that such an event would get front page print and lots of press.

Furthermore, too often things are called miracles (the setting aside of natural law like Jesus walking on water, the sun standing still, the multiplying of loaves) when they are rather evidence of God’s providence.  If a package sent 3 weeks ago arrives today containing precisely what you had just prayed for today, it is surely God’s hand – God’s providence, but it is not a miracle!  There was no natural law paused or trumped (the world can dismiss it as coincidence – they are not forced to acknowledge God, which is what a true miracle does).  When we get sloppy with the idea of miracles we start undermining the very Word of God (I don’t study, rather I pray expectantly for God to do a miracle).  We must be careful!