According to His Purpose

You can't study through the Old Testament book of Ruth, as we have been doing on Sundays the past few weeks, without at least some recognition of God's sovereignty and His providence. It is obvious that God is at work, behind the scenes, orchestrating events and creating divine appointments that lead to His will being accomplished. It can be hard for us with our finite minds to understand sometimes, but if we look closely--at the book of Ruth, and also at our own lives--we can see His fingerprints all over things.

The key is, you have to try to focus on the big picture, even while you are living in the moment. As someone has said, often our limited view is like that of "an ant on a Rembrandt." All that little ant can see is where he is, with a close-up view, and thus he is unable to see the picture of the painting as a whole. If we are really going to understand God's purpose, we need to have the larger view.

There's an old story that illustrates this truth well. It's about a farmer who owned a horse. One day the horse ran away. His friends came to console him because of the loss. "I don't know," said the farmer, "maybe it's a bad thing and maybe it's not." 

The following week, the horse returned to the farm, accompanied by 20 other horses, who had been roaming wild in the countryside. His friends came to congratulate him: "Now you have a full stable!" The farmer just said, "I don't know. Maybe it's a good thing and maybe it's not." 

The following week, the farmer's son was out riding one of the new horses. The horse began to buck and threw him off, breaking the son's leg. His friends came to console the farmer because of the accident. "I don't know," said the farmer, "maybe it's a bad thing and maybe it's not." 

The following week, the government declared war and called all able-bodied young men to join the fight. They came to the town and rounded up hundreds of young men, except for the farmer's son who had a broken leg. The farmer said, "Now I can say that it was a good thing my horse ran away." 

The "moral" of the story? Life is a series of events, and until we've reached the end of the series, it's hard to know exactly why things are happening. When you're in the middle of something, it's especially difficult to get a proper perspective.

Of course, we who are Christ-followers have a bit of an advantage. Even though we may not know the significance of any life event at the time, we can trust the One who walks with us all the way, understanding that He loves us, He is in control, and He has a plan. And in the end, that plan is always for our good.

Hear again those familiar words from the apostle Paul: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28).

May we each live out His purpose, on purpose, this week. I am praying for you, and I look forward to seeing you Sunday.

--Pastor Ken