Walking with the Wise #233: Playing Our Part

“The LORD has made everything for its purpose,

even the wicked for the day of trouble.”
—Proverbs 16:4

God will accomplish His purpose no matter what man does. Like the author of a play, He knows the ending. We aren’t privy to the script, but can only ad lib as it goes along, knowing that the cosmic author is leading the entire production to a great and terrible ending, when His Son will take center stage and take the final bow as the scenery is replaced by that which He personally fashioned, and the antagonists will exit stage left into the fires of hell. Do not be fooled; God is squarely and solely in charge.

God knows the end from the beginning, and for many of us that is reassuring, while others find it disconcerting, and for all of us, it is truly bewildering. If God knows the end from the beginning, then how can we exercise any free will? I wish I could say I knew, but I don’t. I simply trust in Him who does, and try my best to bring applause to the hero of the story. My part is short, but I know that my part was written for a purpose and that is to bring Him glory (cf. Isaiah 43:7). I also know that the evil man does, the hostility and animosity he has toward God will come to nothing in the end. No man can sabotage God’s play, no more than Julius Caesar could sabotage Shakespeare. Shakespeare writes his play in full knowledge that Brutus and Caesar alike will fulfill their roles, despite the fact one shall kill the other. Both are playing the part the author penned.

We must not worry about the wickedness going on in our world. While it should be of concern to us, and cause us to help the helpless or do what we can to stop it, we must not be overly concerned to the point of sinning. Each election season this is played over and over again. One party presents its candidate as being the last moral levee who can alone stem the tide of evil in our world. And while it is true that we are to stand against evil, we can be assured that God will accomplish His purpose no matter what—for blessing or for judgment. He may allow evil to continue so that good might rise up and stop it, or He might allow evil to continue so that He can judge it, or He may stop it altogether—whatever the case, He has set it forth for purposes beyond our ability to understand. Our response is to be one of childlike trust and faithful obedience to the tasks He has entrusted to our care, we must be like the psalmist and exclaim,  

“Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
 it is high; I cannot attain it”—Psalm 139:6.

Praise the God who is victorious over sin and who ordained for us to have salvation through His Son! May His name receive praise and may we bow in humble adoration at the feet of the sovereign, omniscient God who works all things for the glory of His great name. Amen.