The LORD Always Wins

"There is no wisdom or understanding or counsel against the LORD."

Proverbs 21:30

What confidence and comfort God's people can have in His sovereign rule over all!  Paul was convinced he and all believers who love God can know He works all things work together for good.  Thus situations that we would say are bad or are intended by others for evil will not undermine or prevent God's good purposes from ultimately being accomplished.  Sometimes, like Joseph in Egypt, God can provide insight into His redemptive operation in our circumstances and ourselves.  He explained to his brethren in Genesis 50:20:  "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."  It was evil when Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave and fabricated evidence to deceive his father into believing he was dead, yet God meant it for good--that in time nations, Joseph, his father and even his brothers would be spared from starvation and death.

Paul suffered many things for the sake of Christ.  His personal introduction to Jesus on the road to Damascus rendered him blind for days and this led to great spiritual insight as God's chosen vessel to bear Christ's name to the Gentiles.  Wherever he went, Paul regularly faced opposition, death threats, beatings and was incarcerated many times.  He took courage in Jesus Christ in such moments, for there is no wisdom, understanding or counsel against the LORD.  While imprisoned he wrote in Philippians 1:12-14:  "But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, ¹³ so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; ¹⁴ and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear."  One might assume Paul would be hindered, silenced and isolated by his chains, yet new doors of fruitful ministry opened up to him because of it.  We do not read of Paul complaining or ranting about the injustice of his arrest or the need of judicial reforms, for the Gospel was being furthered and Christians were increasingly bold without fear.

In His wisdom, God sent His only begotten Son Jesus to become wisdom for us.  King Herod tried to kill Him, Satan tried to tempt Him, the religious rulers tried to trap Him in His words, and His brothers did not initially believe in Him!  Murderous schemes, deceit and unbelief failed to undermine or hinder the fruitfulness and reception of the Gospel by many followers.  When Satan influenced Judas to betray Jesus, the Jewish rulers condemned Him to death in illegal proceedings and pushed for His crucifixion, God accomplished everything He planned from the beginning by providing atonement for sinners by Christ's shed blood.  Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:6-8, "However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. ⁷ But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, ⁸ which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory."  Since there is no wisdom, understanding or counsel against the LORD, everything Satan and man did to silence Jesus has glorified Him forever in His resurrection--proving His divinity, His authority, power over sin and death, and He is able to give eternal life to all who trust in Him.

Knowing there is no wisdom, understanding or counsel against the LORD, how good it is to be in Jesus Christ by faith in Him!  This means whatever is intended to be evil against us God will use for good, that injustice will lead to an outpouring of grace and salvation, and the miraculous power of God displayed in response to wicked schemes will be so great that Satan will lament having foolishly played into God's hands.  The devil is proud enough to believe he handed God an easy victory, but the credit for every redemptive victory belongs only to Jesus Christ our LORD.  How would it transform your perspective of your life and the world, seeing there is no wisdom, understanding or counsel against the LORD?

Fervent Love For One Another

It is possible to know scripture by heart that has yet to impact our hearts.  While people are always on the lookout for something new, it is the same old passages of Scripture that provide fresh, relevant guidance to walk in newness of life made possible by the Gospel.  For the spiritually hungry child of God, this never grows old.

Today I considered the passage when Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.  Though Jesus was LORD of all, He voluntarily assumed a position typically filled by a slave and washed feet.  John 13:12-15 says, "So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, "Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you."  Jesus provided an object lesson of conduct that was to mark all His disciples by how they served one another, laying aside any status without thought of themselves.

Before Jesus washed feet, He stripped Himself of His regular clothing and gird himself with a towel that was used to wipe the grime from sandal-clad feet.  When Jesus had washed all the disciples' feet, the towel around His waist would been been noticeably dirty.  This humble gesture was consistent with the considerate character of Jesus showed by laying aside His divine status in a sense to gird Himself with human flesh.  Then He drew near to people who were proud and defiled by sin so He might wash and cleanse them.  Only those willing to be cleansed had their feet washed, and only those who humble themselves to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ are born again.  After our conversion, being washed with the water of the word and the living water of the indwelling Holy Spirit continues to cleanse us of sinful habits, selfishness and pride.

Foot washing is most uncommon in western hospitality, so how can we do for one another as Jesus has said?  Peter, an apostle who allowed Jesus to wash his feet (albeit reluctantly!), quote Proverbs 10:12 in 1 Peter 4:7-8:  "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. ⁸ And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."  When we believers see another Christian overtaken with sin, expressing themselves with pride or refusing to forgive, we are to draw near to them rather than avoiding them.  Love doesn't cover sins by denying their existence or turning a blind eye to them, but looks to see that person restored to fellowship with God and others in the church.  Jesus did not allow dirty, smelly feet to deter Him from drawing near to wash feet, and He also was willing for the sins of the world to defile Him so sinners could be cleansed and given eternal life.  It requires humility and loyal love to minister grace to Christians so they might be washed clean of offenses.  We cannot wash people of sins or convince them to change course, but Jesus can.

Fretting Against the LORD

 "The foolishness of a man twists his way, and his heart frets against the LORD."

Proverbs 19:3

The picture of the foolish heart of man fretting against the LORD is an apt one.  I have several shirts that show evidence of fretting from scraping across rough surfaces, and it is unsightly when fibers of fabric pull unevenly.  Webster describes the word "fret" as meaning, "corroding, wearing away; agitating; vexing; making rough on the surface."  Should a fabric continue to rub upon a stone or block surface, the threads will wear away completely and create a hole.  God is the immoveable, eternal God who is resolute and unchanging.  Man's folly prompts him to dash against the righteous God like a bug impulsively flies repeatedly into a light and stuns itself.  It is the bug that comes off worse for wear.

God is not worn down by the folly, crookedness or perversion of man He has created.  It is man who wears down under the weight of God's judgments, correction and guilt.  Jesus did not commit Himself to men because He knew the hearts of men and what was inside them:  flattery, deceit, lies, unbelief and willful ignorance.  This passage shows the need for every person to receive a new heart and to walk in the wisdom of God rather than fretting against Him.  Jesus said it was hard for Saul to kick against the goads, and we make it hard on ourselves when we fret against the LORD--causing self-inflicted wounds without cure.  The only remedy for our ills is divine intervention and restoration made possible by faith in Jesus Christ.

When God gives us a new heart, having been born again by the Gospel, we are more inclined to love God and walk in His ways rather than backsliding.  Hosea 11:7 speaks of God's people under Law who continued in their own ways despite His revelation of God in the Scripture and in their lives:  "My people are bent on backsliding from Me. Though they call to the Most High, none at all exalt Him."  To backslide means to be faithless, to depart from God and fall away.  Years ago I would commonly hear people identify with backsliding but only partly--claiming they had relapsed into sinful habits but they still loved and believed in God.  It almost sounded acceptable to associate oneself with backsliding, for at least they were at church!  It did not seem to make a lasting difference when those bent on backsliding "rededicated" their lives to God, for they needed a new heart and Spirit within them when away from church gatherings.

Jeremiah 3:21-22 provides hope and healing for the fretting backslider:  "A voice was heard on the desolate heights, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel. For they have perverted their way; they have forgotten the LORD their God. ²² "Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." "Indeed we do come to You, for You are the LORD our God."  God was able to heal Saul of Tarsus who kicked against the goads, and He is able to heal our backslidings when we return to the LORD.  The sheep that wanders from the fold is exposed to many illnesses, terrors and enemies without the protection of the Good Shepherd, and how good it is for us to return to God, to learn to remember God and be faithful to Him.  Praise the LORD for His mercy and grace, that He calls out to His backsliding children to heal those who return to Him in truth.

More than Satisfying Curiosity

Human beings have an insatiable appetite for knowledge, to learn facts about what has happened.  Hearing "facts" sounds dull and boring, yet learning about something of personal interest is fun and exciting.  Many times we have watched a movie, show or skipped to the end of a book that wasn't very interesting or well made because we were still interested to know how it ended.  Our curiosity satisfied, we could then move on to making judgments about what would have made the movie better or the book more engaging.

We can take a similar approach when it comes to God and His word.  Our interest in reading God's word may be to glean the truth so we can discern between right and wrong.  We may open the Bible to remind ourselves of what happened in a historical narrative, to remind ourselves of the name of a person or city, or for verses of encouragement.  Some write down and memorise meaningful passages of Scripture as a spiritual discipline.  It may surprise you, but God has spoken and provided His word for more than giving us the facts or educating us about happened or what will happen--to the end we would know Him and walk according to His righteous ways.  While we are content to have our curiosity satisfied, God desires our transformed lives would proclaim His goodness to all.

Asaph wrote of God and His mighty works in Psalm 78:4-8, "We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. ⁵ For He established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children; ⁶ that the generation to come might know them, the children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children, ⁷ that they may set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; ⁸ and may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright, and whose spirit was not faithful to God."  Everyone likes to hear a good story, and Asaph declared the history of God's people and testified of God's faithfulness.  The stories told in the Old Testament, entertaining as they may be, were intended to instruct and guide people presently  and for generations to come in honouring, praising and obeying God.

The purpose of instructing the next generation was so they could learn from the mistakes of their fathers who were stubborn, rebellious, did not prepare their hearts and were unfaithful to God.  The continuous cycle of failure of successive generations and inability to rise above their fathers shows more than education, instruction and tradition is needed:  we must be born again by faith in Jesus.  We are no better than our fathers, nor will we ever be by the efforts of our flesh.  Knowing what God's word says ought to to guide our thinking, words, attitudes, motives and how we live.  God holds His people responsible to walk in His ways and boldly testify of God's goodness and how (even at our best!) we are naturally nothing like Him.  May it be through the declaration of God's word people would come to know God, and our testimony "...in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7)