Devotional - 99-03-22 - Pick a Fight You Can't Win

Matthew 5:45 ...for He causes His sun to rise on evil and good and sends rain on righteous and unrighteous.

Donald Drusky was unhappy with God and took Him to court. Donald’s life apparently was not going as well as he wanted and he blamed it on His creator. He sued. He sued God (in a US district court) to return his youth, grant him the guitar-playing skills of famous guitarists, resurrect his mother and his pet pigeon. His case was recently thrown out.

Donald might have been on to something. He blamed God for his problems. Most people blame everyone around them for their problems, but not Donald, he took the off beaten path of giving God the blame. If Donald ever becomes a famous guitarist, with great skills, the flip side would be, if Donald were consistent, that he would give God all the praise for his ability.

In fact, if Donald were really consistent, he would both blame God for all the bad things in his life, and praise Him for everything good in his life. One would imagine that if Donald lived a consistent life, he would be spending a lot of time praising God. If his heart is working fine, God gets the credit. How is your spleen Donald? God gets the praise. Was your house preserved from fire last night? Did you wake up this morning? Do you have a job? How is the air you breath...does it have enough oxygen? Time to praise God.

Sadly, the blame for our problems, and for Donalds, rests in the problem of our sin nature. When we are honest about our propensity toward sin, it is amazing how gracious God really is. We break His laws, we rebel against His ways, and yet He continues to care. He gives rain to the righteous and the unrighteous. The sun shines us when we sin and when we confess our sins. God is ever patient with His creation. It is amazing things go so well with us.

The providence of God is incomprehensible. This was learned by a man who began to distrust God’s providence after he witnessed an good man die a horrible death. He went on a journey and was met by an angel.

The first night the angel and he were together the angel stole a priceless golden cup from their kind host and gave it to the host at the house they stayed at the next night. This second host was very unkind to them and only allowed them to sleep on the floor of the porch. When they passed a man on a bridge the angel pushed him over and he drowned. The man now thought the angel was more a devil than an angel.

But the angel explained. The innocent man who he first saw die would have gone on to commit horrible crimes had he lived. The cup he stole from the first man would have been used to lead him to a drunkard’s grave. The man who he pushed off the bridge would have himself committed murder had he gone 1/2 a mile further. And the man to whom he gave the golden cup received his reward in this life.

So it is with the unknown and wonderful providence of God.

Soli Deo Gloria,
T-

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