Tuesday, March 18, 2014

As Sparks Fly Upward

6    “For affliction does not come from the dust,     Nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
7    For man is born for trouble,     As sparks fly upward.
8    “But as for me, I would seek God,     And I would place my cause before God;
9    Who does great and unsearchable things,     Wonders without number.
10    “He gives rain on the earth     And sends water on the fields,
11    So that He sets on high those who are lowly,     And those who mourn are lifted to safety.
12    “He frustrates the plotting of the shrewd,     So that their hands cannot attain success.
13    “He captures the wise by their own shrewdness,     And the advice of the cunning is quickly thwarted. 

Job 5:6-13

Let's attain a bit of perspective, friends. All the suffering which man inflicts upon his fellow man, whether it's Vlad Putin invading a peaceful country or a nurse practitioner encouraging a young woman to have an abortion-all troubles Of Man comes From Man.
True, nature sometimes does wipe out/destroy lives, such as the Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004, but that is Nature doing what Nature does under the aegis of God. There is no wickedness, no sin in those occurrences.
But a tsunami of terror unleashed on the world by Man working for his selfish purposes? 
Such as Vlad Putin attempting to resurrect the USSR?
Great sin, much trouble because of greed/selfish desire.
Was Russia in danger?
Did Russia fear for it's existence?
No-whatever excuse, it is merely Man seeking to have MORE.
To the detriment of the rest of the world.
But God is watching, and God will frustrate the plotting of the shrewd, so that they cannot attain success. This has been the case since Nimrod tried to unify the world against God in Babel.
We have not as yet had the entire world held by any tyrant because God frustrates every Hitler and Napoleon who attempts to be a modern day Nimrod. 
Warning-in the book of Revelation it speaks of a world tyrant who WILL hold the entire world in his wicked power...for a short time. And then Christ will return and defeat all of His enemies.
"11    So that He sets on high those who are lowly,     And those who mourn are lifted to safety."
may not be an explicit mention of the "Rapture",  the 'catching up' of those who belong to Christ, but this idea is there:
10Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:10
Bottom line: Man doing evil to Man will someday no longer be "how the world works". That we are still breathing air in 2014 is due to the Grace of God. Every proud tyrant cast down is due to the Grace of God. Every tyrant now in power will someday lose that power, his treasure and his life and stand before God. 
That is Justice. By the Grace of God.

1 comment:

Doug said...

Some wisecracker might ask, "What about Alexander the Great? He held the entire known world in his hands, didn't he?
Sure. For 13 years. And he died at age 33. Count that as one more case of God frustrating the ambitions of Man.