"The Benefactor"
Part 4
The fact that God must perfectly coordinate every answer to prayer in accordance with His eternal purpose in Christ becomes all the more wondrous when we consider the freedom exercised by angelic and human beings to respond or rebel against Him.
"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High" (Isaiah 14:13-14).
"All we like sheep are gone away, we have turned every one turned to his own way" (Isaiah 53:6).
Our Benefactor's ability to answer every prayer in a manner that perfectly synthesizes with every other answer to prayer constitutes His wisdom, power, and working in far greater terms of glory than can be imagined. Scripture teaches that one third of the angels and all of the human race have exercised the capacity to "turn" from their Creator's will. It would be one thing, a most amazing thing, for God to create impersonal beings programmed to obey, and then to fulfill their trillions of requests in perfect harmony with His purposes and with each other. It is quite another, indeed, an infinitely more mind-boggling reality, to ponder the truth of His correlating answers to prayers prayed by billions of beings given real consciousness and liberty. Every prayer answered by the Benefactor must perfectly synthesize with all others. As referenced in a previous message, His answers for George cannot conflict with His answers for Joe. Moreover, He must work in the hearts of both men whose lives are not merely programmed, but which flow with the dual current of Divine purpose and Divinely-granted freedom.
Our response must be wonder, and at least figuratively, we must fall to our knees in the most awed appreciation of a Being whose "greatness is unsearchable!" (Psalm 145:3). God does not have to fate all things in order to fulfill all things that accord with His eternal purpose. This is why believers are not fatalists. The Bible calls us to a far higher view of our Lord than the mere "Que sera, sera, what will be, will be." Our Heavenly Father rather calls us to make our requests with great confidence that through Christ, we can pray in an effectual manner, as led His Spirit, His Word, and the influence of fellow Christians. However, we also pray in the shadow of a Mountain whose summit rises far above our vision and capacity to comprehend. Again, God does not have to fate all things in order to fulfill all things. Whew! Little wonder that the Apostle Paul declared, "We know not what to pray for as we ought" (Romans 8:26). We pray nevertheless, perhaps first about our praying! "Lord, teach us to pray" (Luke 11:1). The Benefactor of unsearchable greatness will lead and enable us to make our requests as we approach Him in both awe and confidence. He will answer accordingly, in ways beyond our comprehension, but not beyond our capacity for wonder and gratitude.
"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
(Jeremiahs 33:3)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Call unto Me, and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."
(Jeremiahs 33:3)
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