|
"So Pilate said to Him, 'You will not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?' Jesus answered him, 'You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered Me over to you has the greater sin' " (John 19:10-11).
"The Mystery of God’s providence is a most sublime consideration. It is easy to let our reason run away with itself. It is at a loss when it attempts to search into the eternal decrees of election or the entangled mazes and labyrinths in which the divine providence walks." • Nothing comes to pass without our heavenly Father. No evil comes to pass without His permissive providence, and no good without His ordaining providence to His own ends." • "God may bless one by affliction, and curse another by prosperity. Nothing is truly good but promotes eternal happiness" (Ezekiel Hopkins). 1
In His act of love that provided us free will, even with His foreknowledge that this would require the death of His Son, God separated His providence into the lanes of permissive and ordaining. This is not easily understood by man, a question that has troubled all ages (Job 21). With the Holy Spirit’s gift of faith, we must trust that both affliction and prosperity are molding tools of His creative love. We must trust His promise in His Word — again with the power of faith, not reason — that absolutely every aspect of our lives remains under His loving control.
What may be determined impossible to fully understand (Romans 11:33), the inequality of providence in this world, may make sense on the day of judgement. It is equally plausible that our eternal joy may be so enthralled by His Glory that we don’t care how we got there (Job 42). Either way, something had to die for our soul to be redeemed and our perfect relationship with God restored. We won’t get there on our own, no matter how good we look to others or how great our lives become. This should actually be comforting — the source of our spring is the death and resurrection of Jesus and the faith of the Holy Spirit.
Rest assured that at the deepest level the world is not controlled by random confusion, but divine order will lead us to perfect and eternal harmony. "When the storms and waves overwhelm the ship, our God is not sleeping; He is at the helm." 1
1Ezekiel Hopkins, Works, 111:370-388
| 
