His Eye is on the Sparrow

It has been well said that God's omniscience is a comfort to believers and a terror to unbelievers. The comfort is easy to see. If he truly knows all things and if he ordains all things, then everything that happens to me or to those I love must happen as part of his plan. F. B Meyer has written, "It is in proportion as we see God's will in the various events of life and surrender ourselves either to bear it or do it, that we shall find earth's bitter circumstances becoming sweet and its hard things easy."

I received a message from someone who had never written me before. Suffice it to say that this person's family is going through a terribly difficult time and there is no end in sight. The trial may continue for some time to come. This is what she wrote:

I have known the truth of Romans 8:28 in my head for many years, but only over the last month have the words had a meaning for my heart. I am convinced that this whole situation has a purpose, but I am still struggling with the 'What.' Without the promises of God, I am sure that I would be unable to carry on, going to work and supporting my kids.

If this letter sounds disjointed, it is just how my thoughts have been over the past several weeks. But I have continued to hold on to something you wrote in your book (to paraphrase) … Don't worry about 2 or 3 weeks from now, because God has already been there. I know that he continues to hold our entire family in the palm of His hand and that He is directing this to its own end and to His glory. I know that since He cares for the sparrows, He surely is caring for us.

That's a wonderful statement by a believer who, though struggling to understand her own situation, has rested her faith on the fact of God's sovereignty over the details of life. Somewhere I ran across a wonderful statement of what sovereignty really means. God's sovereignty means "He knows what he is doing, and he is doing it." That sums it up, doesn't it?

Although Andrew Murray lived almost 100 years ago, many of his books are still in print, including the classic With Christ in the School of Prayer. During a low period in his own life, he wrote the following words: 'He brought me here. He will keep me here. He will make this trial a blessing. He will bring me out again. Therefore, I am here by God's appointment, in His keeping, under His training, for His time."

We often hear it said that 'disappointment is his appointment." We don't see that in advance, only in reverse. Be encouraged. God knows what he is doing even when we don't have a clue.

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