It’s Friday…Be Profoundly Confident

God leaves a lot to the human will, doesn’t He? Again and again in His Word, He gives us conditions. “If you fully obey The LORD. . . you will experience all these blessings” (Deuteronomy 28:1-2). “If My people. . . will humble themselves and pray. . ., I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). “If you forgive those who sin against you, your Heavenly Father will forgive you” (Matthew 6:14). The list could go on and on. He freely offers His goodness and grace, but a lot of things depend on how we receive them.

But God doesn’t leave everything in the hands of fickle human beings. Aren’t you glad? He knows ahead of time how to accomplish His plans, and He will do it. Sure, He brings us as willing human beings into the process – He knows us, calls us, chooses us, and more – but there’s no risk of His overall plans and promises being left undone. Yes, we might miss out on something He offers, but He doesn’t miss out on anything He purposes if we don’t follow His plans. As we have seen time and again, He does all that He pleases.

“I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’” (Isaiah 46:10)

That’s why when His followers panic over the headlines, it makes no sense. Neither does anxiety over threats to our wellbeing. Those headlines and threats serve us well as a call to action – God never tells us to rest to the point of being passively uninvolved in His purposes – but they are not cause for alarm. We can be fully confident in His ability to direct the course of history, and certainly, our own lives.

No doubt, we are to work faithfully as though God’s instructions are our full responsibility, but we are also to rest completely as though the results are fully up to Him. That’s a hard balance for many of us, isn’t it? We tend to push too actively or relax too passively, but God has given us everything we need to have a thoroughly biblical balance. Are we called to action? Yes. Are we called to restful trust? Yes. The former is what we do with our mouths, our hands, and feet. The latter is what we do with our hearts – where we can Be Profoundly Confident that God will always do what He pleases. And that is good, good news, huh?

Have a pleasant weekend. Make it better by worshiping The Lord with those who live for His pleasure alone, and who love it when He accomplished His purposes as He pleases, because they know they are the recipients of His blessing every time He does.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)