Posted by Pastor Will
on October 26, 2009, 6:25 pm, in reply to "Where was God?"
I agree that you would have gotten nowhere in trying to argue with the woman in this particular situation. My answer (in another, calmer, scenario) would be the God was right there watching everything in complete, sovereign, control.
One cannot argue that God is unable to intervene. The Bible is full of examples where God did indeed intervene in order for His purposes to be accomplished:
God broke the will of Pharaoh by sending plagues upon Egypt. This was done in order to make His power known upon all the earth (Exodus 9:16). As a side note, this same verse shows that God not only broke Pharaoh’s will, be He raised Pharaoh up for this purpose.
Exodus 14 talks of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart so that He could gain glory for Himself and so the Egyptians would know He is the LORD. In the same chapter, we see God blocking the Egyptian army with a pillar of cloud. We then see God throwing the Egyptian army into confusion. Finally, we see God sweeping the Egyptian army into the sea and killing every single one of them.
In Judges 7, 1Samuel 14, and 2Chronicles 20 we see the armies of the enemies of Israel being thrown into confusion. And in 2Kings 6 God blinds the enemy army so Elisha can lead them away.
We see God publicly killing people for their wickedness (eg. Ananias and Sapphira) and directly confronting people to change their ways (eg. Saul of Tarsus). We see evil people being raised up specifically for God’s purposes (Pharaoh, Pilate, Herod) and we see people afflicted from birth for the sole purpose of showing God’s power (John 9).
We also see that faith (which is definitely a controlling factor in our lives) is a gift of God (Romans 12, 1Corinthians 12, Ephesians 2)
All of these are examples of ways in which God intervenes when it serves His purpose. One could probably say that God is constantly sovereignly intervening in our lives. There are many other examples of God hardening and softening hearts, bringing clarity or confusion to people, and otherwise bringing about His purposes.
One final note I would make is that there are some pretty scary results of God’s being unable to intervene according to His sovereign decree. What trust can we put in God’s promises if He is unable to bring about His purposes? Can God really say that He will protect us if he is unable to stop the actions of others? Does it make sense to pray for the salvation of others if God is unable to assist? How about praying for travelling mercies, or safety? Why pray for help of any kind if God is powerless to intervene?
http://www.churchofthefirstcentury.org81
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