Are they really His appointments?
We never travel very far on our pilgrimage until we are aware that God is intervening in our lives to effect His purposes of love. But often these interventions cause us much disappointment and are contrary to our natural desires.
The parable of the Rich Farmer in Luke 12 is often used in the preaching of the gospel, but it contains a lesson for all of us. There are two contrasting statements. The first is, “And he said, This will I do,” and the other is, “But God said unto him.” Often a wide gap exists between our intentions and the plan that God has laid down for our lives. How important to learn to cooperate with God, yielding ourselves to His will.
Unfortunately the rich farmer is not the only person ruined by success. Material things often crowd out spiritual interests. When life revolves around self, when God’s claims are ignored, it must be expected that He will intervene to save us from the fruits of our folly. “For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth” (Heb. 12:6).
“But God said….” Even when His word seems unkindly, His voice is that of wisdom and love. Beyond the clouds of sorrow there always remains the sunshine of the eternal Father’s care and forbearance. We should always remember that He is the God of love, and His purposes are far beyond our knowing. When unpleasant events befall us, we should seek to recognize that “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes” (Ps. 118:23).
David, a man after God’s own heart, had the laudable ambition to build a house for God’s earthly habitation, but God said, “Thou shalt not build a house unto My name” (1 Chron. 22:8). It was a perfectly praiseworthy desire and a fit expression of his devotion, yet it was not in agreement with the divine purpose.
Many Christians, like David, have desired to do something great for their Lord, such as giving up their lives to service in the foreign field. Yet God has hedged up the way and prevented the offering of such a noble sacrifice. We often hear outgoing missionaries tell how the Lord has “opened the way” for them, but it would be quite as interesting to hear the life stories of those who attempted to go to the foreign field and found that the doors were effectively shut against them.
God is not working to baffle our energies or disappoint our hopes. He seeks to lead us into paths where we will find our highest development. A God who delights to enrich, “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).
Paul attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not allow him, and afterwards he had a vision which assured him that the Lord had called him to preach the gospel in Macedonia. God intervened to direct his missionary work, and led him into his greatest field of service.
God’s deprivations prepare us for greater enrichment. Joseph was forcibly removed from the comforts of his home, but the pit and the prison were the necessary preludes to the governorship of Egypt. When he was at the height of his power he could say to his guilty brothers: “So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God” (Gen. 45:8).
When the sisters of Bethany sent the message, “Behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick,” it was a call to hurry to their help. But instead of immediately responding, the Saviour remained two days in the place where He was. If He had acted at once He would doubtless have rescued Lazarus from the clutch of death. But He wanted to give them assurance of the life to come and of His triumph over death.
Paul was given a thorn in the flesh, and besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from him, but instead of giving him health, God bestowed on him richer supplies of divine grace. God sometimes refuses the lesser that He might give the greater. Paul sought strength in himself, but received strength in God.
The last glimpse the Scriptures give of Paul tells of a bitter disappointment. The Apostle wrote that at his trial, “No man stood with me, but all men forsook me” (2 Tim. 4:16). Long before, he had addressed the Roman Christians as beloved of God, called to be saints, and had thanked God that their faith was spoken of throughout the whole world. When he was drawing near to Rome these saints came to meet him, and their welcome cheered him. “Whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage” (Acts 28:15). Thus we can readily understand how disappointed he felt when all the brethren whom he loved and esteemed forsook him in his hour of need. Yet he triumphantly declared, “Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.” When friends failed him, he seemed to cling more closely to that Friend that sticks closer than a brother. The failure of his friends caused him to seek more earnestly his never-failing Saviour, and there he found both strength and confidence.
“Ill that God blesses is our good,
And unblest good is ill;
And all is right that seems most wrong,
If it be His sweet will.”