Omnibus III (Reformation to the Present/10th Grade)
Of Plymouth Plantation (Primary)
Question: How can we see God’s control of the World?
Sometimes it’s impossible to imagine what tomorrow will bring. Last year, people
awaited eagerly for the shout of “Happy New Year,” as they entered the year 2020 with the
usual festivities and excitement. Students made plans for their semesters, the economy was
booming, and job opportunities were endless. But as we’ve seen throughout history,
whenever man begins to build his tower too high, God lets the foundation immediately give
way. All progress was lost when the coronavirus hit. We were isolated from each other, many
living alone. Death tolls began to rise, hospitals were flooded, and worldwide panic ensued.
News stations began posting live charts counting the deaths, and infections. There was no
cure, and still is none. Thousands of small businesses shut their doors for good, and millions
worldwide were left without jobs. Grocery stores were soon emptied. And in the quiet,
people began to ask questions, questions that though crucial, are often given very little
thought. Possibly the most prominent among these was “Is God in control?”
The truth is that when we are experiencing God’s blessing, we don’t want to
believe that they are gifts and products of someone else’s work. When our wallets are
overflowing, we like king Nebuchadnezzar say “Look what I’ve done.” When our wallets are
empty, and our stomachs are grumbling, we angrily cry in prayer “Look what You’ve done!”
We don’t realize that God brings rain and sun. He is just as much working when our overtime
gets us that pay raise, as when we find that our names is on the list of layoffs. It often takes
humbling trials to destroy our groundless pride and arrogance before we look to God.
But how can we see that God is in control during disasters. Is it not a disgrace to his
name to say that He brings the sickness, disaster, and death. What will people think of Him
if we say that it was He who took away their child, after calling them to pray to Him while
there was still life? Doesn’t it sound better to talk about God as a God who looks on in
sadness at the orphan’s condition, who weeps along with the poor?
Yes, God is a sympathetic God. He knows our pain, because He experienced it. He
knows our loneliness, because He was separated from God and man on the cross. He knows
hunger, humiliation, sadness, and loss. He mourned over Jerusalem. But God does not spare
us from every pain, every discomfort. Jesus himself told his disciples they would meet trials.
They would be hated, falsely accused, humiliated, and condemned to death without reason.
God does not pretend that the Christian life will be easy. But He does provide us grace to
help us through those trials.
But why does God send trials at all? God knows man’s heart. He knows that pride is
one struggle that man will never overcome. While we live in this world, we will be tempted
to think highly of ourselves. And it is when we begin to think that we have things covered,
that we can handle our own lives and look after ourselves, that we find ourselves in the
greatest spiritual danger. Nebuchadnezzar praised his power, so God humiliated Him. When
Nebuchadnezzar returned from His humiliation, he had been set straight. He knew the truth,
the truth we can only see when all the things of life have been stripped from our eyes. He
knew that it was God who had raised him up, and brought him low.
Finally, we must remember that anything we suffer physically, drought, famine, or
sickness, that it is nothing compared to the pain of the cross. While the criminals who died
on either side of Jesus suffered severe physical pain, neither could comprehend the
suffering of the Messiah. He experienced God’s displeasure on all our sins, a displeasure so
terrible that it made Him sweat blood merely to think of it. That is what we have been
spared from, and though we face a thousand trials, none will ever come close to that which
the spotless lamb carried for us on cross.
God knows what tomorrow will bring. This world holds no greater trial than death,
and even the sting of death has been taken by Christ. Paul in his letter actually says that he
would welcome death because it would mean eternal joy with Christ. So no matter what
tomorrow brings, God will extend to us the grace necessary to endure to the end. And in
just a little while, all earthly pain will be taken from us, and we will experience the joys that
Jesus promised the criminal as he breathed his last breath.
Aidan (15)
