Do you pay lip service to the notion of God’s sovereignty? If I asked you, and indeed most Christians: “do you believe God is all powerful, all knowing, and all good”, you would likely say, “certainly.” May I ask you to consider how deeply you have considered this? What do you believe, think, and feel when confronted with pain, suffering, and evil in our world? How about in your own life? Is your view of the robustness of God’s power, knowledge, and love up to the task? Most of us will affirm God’s sovereignty to some degree, but living it and ministering it to others can be another story.
This Sunday we are looking at one of the most challenging bits of Ecclesiastes. We will see the wise teacher in Chapter 7 wrestling with his sovereign God. Like us, he can make a statement plainly: “Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?”(v13), and in the very next instance struggle with it for “In my vain life I have seen everything. There is a righteous man who perishes in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man who prolongs his life in his evildoing.”(v15) He then ponders a solution that is soothing to our ears: Goldilocks Religion – not too hot and not too cold. He seems to consider being neither overly righteous and wise nor overly wicked and foolish. But is that really where we ought to land, somewhere in a safe, mushy middle? There are extreme temptations to avoid: one for the religious person and one for the non-religious. The religious must avoid self-righteousness and the non-religious must avoid unrighteousness. Thankfully, the teacher gives us the answer in v18: we are to fear God. To live with a proper, reverent, trusting fear of God allows us to steer clear of both these extremes. And in the midst of such a life, regardless of our circumstances and trials, we know and experience our God as powerful, knowing, and good. Man’s first sin in the Garden was at its root not trusting in God’s loving goodness. It remains our greatest challenge in a sin-marred world. Consider the work of God in your life; and worship him in trusting faithfulness.
Much love,
Pastor Gary
As we gather for Sunday worship, we want you to meet with God and be transformed by the Word. Prepare your heart by reading the passage and listening to the songs for Sunday.
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