The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Naturally Supernatural"
God often accomplishes supernatural actions in natural ways.
"But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene" (Matthew 2:19-23).
Could not God have simply sent legions of angels to guard His Son against the enemies who sought His demise? In the sense of capability, He certainly could have. However, in the sense of purpose, the Lord Jesus Christ necessarily lived a life such as we experience in order to fully identify with us.
"Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same...We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews 2:14; 4:15).
As with our Savior, God often works in our lives in ways easily missed or overlooked because they appear to simply result from the natural course of events. If allowed to look back on our earthly lives from a future Heavenly perspective, we may well be surprised to see how active God's hand was in ways that looked like anything but Him. As Jacob declared when discovering he had missed the Lord's presence and working at Bethel: "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not!" (Genesis 28:16).
Presently, we do well to realize this naturally supernatural working of our Heavenly Father. We may see a bit more of His handiwork as we do, although much of His loving involvement on our behalf will remain beyond our awareness. This is best because we "walk by faith, not by sight" (II Corinthians 5:7). For now, we discover much of God's heart as we trust Him and find Him faithful despite the actions of His hand being so often veiled. We will doubtless "understand it better by and by," as the old hymn sings. However, we may understand a bit more during our earthly sojourn as we open our eyes to see the naturally supernatural.
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
(John 7:24)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Because Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of Thy wings will I rejoice."
(Psalm 63:7)
6275
No comments:
Post a Comment