The Comfort of Knowing God Is in Control

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God's providence—what is it? The Westminster Shorter Catechism has a clear and concise definition:

God's works of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful preserving, and governing all his creatures, and all their actions. (WSC 11)

In other words, since God is creator and ruler of all, everything that occurs happens according to his will, even things that appear to be and are awful. Tragedies like war, crime, and the death of a loved one happen according to the will of God.

God by his permissive will determines to allow for a time and purpose the sinful acts of humankind.

Yet, there are distinctions to be made. God is not the author of evil—Scripture is clear about that (James 1:13). God is perfectly and completely good and holy. Yet, God by his permissive will determines to allow for a time and purpose the sinful acts of humankind. The most notable example is the crucifixion of Christ Jesus:

”This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men." (Acts 2:23)

It was God's will that his Son die on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins; yet, it was sinfully done by human hands. From this we vividly learn that even our own sinful acts can and are used by God for his purposes, which are always "holy, wise, and powerful."

Over time, just as the flower of a bud opens, God begins to reveal the good he brings about through our sufferings.

So what are we to make of God's providence when hurt and pain and sadness come from tragedies in our lives? In the hymn "God Moves in a Mysterious Way," written by William Cowper (1774), the last two stanzas help us answer this question:

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding ev'ry hour.
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flow'r.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan his work in vain.
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.

Cowper encourages us that, while recognizing the bud of some tragic and painful event in our lives may have a bitter taste, over time as the flower opens God begins to reveal the good he brings about through such suffering. God may show us the sweetness in full bloom, just as we see from Christ Jesus' resurrection after his crucifixion. The most terrible suffering and death of all time brings forgiveness, salvation, and love, even though at the time Jesus' crucifixion seemed the most unjust death imaginable.

God's providence brings about stronger faith, humility, and greater dependence on him.

Likewise, many of us can surely look back over our own lives and see in our past the failures and errors of trying to have things our way. We can see our sins and sad results in the lives around us while looking on our sin with guilt and regret and crying out to God for forgiveness and renewal. And as we reflect, we can see even the good that God's providence has brought about—stronger faith, greater dependence on God, and humility as we look on others who struggle like we have struggled.

God rules over all that happens, preserving us and governing everything that goes on. Knowing God is in control we can be encouraged that, even when we can't see what God plainly has in mind, we can patiently wait and trust in him that he is most wise, good, and loving in everything that comes to pass.

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This article was originally published in Beautiful Christian Life’s November 2022 monthly newsletter, “God’s Providence” and was first featured at Beautiful Christian Life on May 23, 2023.

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Living in Light of the End

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

Each of us will come to the end of our days on this earth. According to author David Gibson, every Christian should be focused on living life backward in the meantime. What does that mean?

God has called us to participate in the ordinary pursuits of life, such as eating, working, playing, sleeping, serving our neighbor, marrying, having children, and worshipping him. While we have control over our decisions on certain matters, many aspects of life are simply beyond our control. In his book Living Life Backward Gibson writes, “We are each writing the story of our lives, but we are not the main author” (p. 52).

We need to take comfort in God’s sovereign hand over all.

We often wrestle with past choices we have made: Should I have moved here? What if I had pursued a different vocation? Should I have married this person? Additionally, what we are able to choose to do depends upon the stage of life in which we find ourselves. It has been said that “youth is wasted on the young,” meaning that we would do a much better job of living life if only we knew when younger what we came to learn over time.

It’s part of life in this world to mourn our poor choices and wish we could have known the consequences of our decisions at the time and taken a different direction. Yet, God uses our experiences both to teach us wisdom and to sanctify us, growing us in holiness and conforming us to the image of his Son, and what may have seemed to be a less than ideal path is actually where God ordained for us to travel in his perfect will.

By living life backward, we can make wiser decisions along the way.

Knowing that we are limited in knowledge can cause us to freeze in fear, becoming filled with worry that we will make mistakes in future decisions, but we need to take comfort in God’s sovereign hand over all, including our own choices. Gibson reminds us that

It is part of living well to accept two things: first, we are enclosed within time’s bounds, and, second, God is not. What we do comes and goes, but “whatever God does endures forever” (3:14). (p. 52)

We cannot become wise by hiding from the world and living in a bubble. Because you’re not God, you’re going to make mistakes. Yet, these mistakes are permitted in God’s perfect wisdom, and he will use them to grow your faith and wisdom. By focusing on living life backward, thinking about what we want to accomplish and who we want to be when our time here on earth in done, we can make wiser decisions along the way.

Consider grabbing a cup of coffee or tea and taking ten to thirty minutes today to ponder what you want to accomplish before the end of your life, focusing on the nurturing of your relationships and loving and serving those whom God has placed in your life while you’re here on earth. Write down some short, intermediate, and long-term goals either in a journal or an electronic note and go back now and then to revisit what you wrote and make adjustments as needed along the way. As the old saying goes, aim at nothing and you’re sure to hit it!

If you’re not sure what to do, begin with trusting in Christ as your Savior and then strive to keep God’s commands with a thankful heart.

As Christians we have the consequent duty to obey our heavenly Father in all we do. Even though we are saved by the perfect work of Christ counted to us through faith alone in Christ alone by God’s grace alone, how we live as Christians matters. The apostle Paul makes this clear in his letter to the Roman church:

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living….So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Rom. 14:7-9, 12)

In the last chapter of Ecclesiastes the preacher declares:

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with[d] every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Eccles. 12:13-14)

The end here on earth ushers in the beginning of our eternal state in God’s presence.

We can always take heart that no matter how close or far away we are at any point in time when it comes to accomplishing our plans, it’s God’s will that matters most and he is sovereign everything in our lives:

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Prov. 16:9)

Be humble, recognize how limited your knowledge is, seek godly counsel from Scripture and wise people in your life, pray without ceasing, rest in God’s sovereignty and your sure hope in Christ, and focus on this day that has been given to you. When looking backward as you approach death, rejoice that this “end” is also the beginning of eternal life in the presence of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

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This article has been updated since its original publishing date of July 7, 2024.

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How Does God Speak to People Today?

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning Beautiful Christian Life LLC may get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through its links, at no cost to you.

“Speak, for your servant hears.”— 1 Samuel 3:10b

At one time or another, the question “How can I hear from God?” has likely crossed every Christian’s mind. With heartfelt conviction believers want to know what God has in store for their lives and what they should do to best please their heavenly Father. The wide range of suggested answers, however, has caused no end of confusion and controversy for many. So how can we hear from God? How can we know his will for us?

God tells us how he speaks to us.

The direct answer comes from Hebrews 1 where, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the writer to the Hebrews says:

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (Heb. 1:1–2)

Before Jesus came to earth to begin his redemptive work that reached its zenith at the cross, God spoke to his people directly and through the prophets. We read of Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, and the other inspired prophets who spoke, as they heard from God, to give his people the law to reveal sin and to disclose his plan of salvation that would free us from our guilt and condemnation. 

The law was clear, but the promises of redemption were less so in the Old Testament. In Genesis 3:15, when God tells Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent, we find the first reference to God’s promise of a redeemer. Adam and Eve are given this promise as they sit in horror of their disobedience, but the details of how their disobedience would be undone were less than clear to them and their offspring. 

Abraham didn’t understand fully how God would fulfill his promise.

It was the same with Abraham. When God promised to give him offspring more numerous than the stars of heaven, Abraham didn’t understand how or exactly why. Yet, he trusted in the promise by faith. It was the same for Moses. Told to return to Egypt to demand the release of the Hebrew slaves, Moses was more than a little reluctant to go (Exod. 4:1, 13; 6:12). God had spoken, however, and his people believed. 

Hebrews 11 says that the Old Testament believers, including Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Rahab, Samuel, the prophets, and countless others, trusted in the revealed word of God to guide them and assure them of eternal life (Heb. 11:16).

With the birth of Jesus, the prophetic office reached its pinnacle—Jesus was The Prophet foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15 (Acts 3:23; 7:37). As the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist said plainly,

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’” (John 1:29–30)

So, beginning with the ministry of Jesus, God spoke to his people by his Son (Heb 1:2). In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7; see also Luke 6:17-49) Jesus teaches us how to live to please God. He pronounces that he is the one who “came down from heaven,” being “the bread of life” and the “good shepherd” (John 3:13; 6:48; 10:11). Because we trust by God’s grace that Jesus is the promised One to deliver us from sin, we love him, listen to his words, and obey his teaching.

“In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.”

So when the writer to the Hebrews says, “in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,” it means we hear from God through the Word, Christ (John 1:14; Rom. 10:17). When Jesus ascended into heaven, he left behind his apostles and gave them the special task of recording all that he said and did. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, these men recorded all that God ordained as his word, so that we can hear God speak to us today.  

So our plea “Please speak, O Lord” is answered by hearing God’s word faithfully preached and by reading the Bible. Unfortunately, for many people this answer is not altogether satisfying because they desire more intimate communication. They want to receive direct revelation from God.

God speaks to us through the preached word.

It’s critically important to recognize that, according to God’s word, there are no modern-day apostles or prophets who can bring new or specific revelations from God. Yet, God has graciously provided a way for us to find answers to our questions. Let me explain.

It is vital for every believer to be involved in a Christ-centered, Bible preaching and teaching church. The Holy Spirit that indwells every believer gives gifts as God chooses for the building up of the saints. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:27 and following that some are given the gift to teach, others wisdom and knowledge to correct, admonish, and encourage fellow believers.

By the preached word, God speaks to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. While there is no new revelation, there is biblically-based wisdom available from people in the church who speak, counsel, and advise regarding the correct course of action in various circumstances. It is in the body of Christ where we find instruction, worship, discipleship, and fellowship.

We also hear from God when we pray and meditate on his word.

The Bible is not a magic “answer book” of which we can ask a question and then turn to a random page to find the answer. That’s not how it works. Instead, we hear from God in our prayer time and devotions when we meditate on significant passages of Scripture. By drinking daily of the Bible, the Spirit points us to truths so the Bible becomes a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. The Bible claims to be living and active to discern God’s truth for us, and it does just that:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (Heb. 4:12; see also Ps. 119:105). 

The Bible even answers specific questions by giving us the guidelines for making proper choices. “Where I should live?” The answer is where there is a good church in which you can serve and grow. “Whom should I marry?” is answered by “Do not be unequally yoked,” meaning marry a Christian (2 Cor. 6:14). “What job should I take?” Take the one that honors Christ, provides for your family, contributes positively to society, and uses the talents God has given to you. 

Do you want to hear God speak to you? He will through his word. And let us pursue the holiness that God is working in us by the Holy Spirit who indwells all believers because of his precious Son.

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This article was originally published on August 15, 2019.

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