My wife had to run our youngest, Nicholas, to the emergency room last night. He had a weird rash and we were afraid of a severe allergic reaction. We thought his breathing sounded bad and we flipped out. The doctor said he was OK though.
While I was waiting for them to return, I was reading some old issues of Modern Reformation that a friend from church loaned me. I came across a quote from Spurgeon that I really appreciated.
When you go through a trial, the sovereignty of God is the pillow upon which you lay your head.” - Spurgeon
I wrote earlier about the past year and some of the trials (miscarriage, cancer) that we faced. Towards the end, I wrote “God has bound up the wounds He made.” Someone challenged that sentiment in the comments, and he contended that God did not send these trials, but only used them.
I guess some people comfort themselves in times of trial by saying that God is not behind it. I am not one of those people.
If God is not in the author of all the things that happen to me, who or what is? Fate? Chance? Satan? Me?
It’s challenging to accept that God says
“I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7).
But really, it’s terrifying to contemplate living in a universe where things just happen and, while He will help you pick up the pieces, God isn’t in control.
I can accept anything that happens, provided I know it is from the hand of God. I know that He does all things for His glory and my good. If I know that He is in control and He loves me, then how bad can it be? Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him (Job 13:15).