Consider the Hand of God

The sovereign rule of God is manifested just as much in tragedy as it is in prosperity. Today, R.C. Sproul calls us to reflect on the providence of God in every circumstance, including our pain and sorrow, so that we may mature in wisdom.

Think about the work of God, don't just observe it. We can observe His handiwork everywhere we look, we see the handiwork of God. But this calls for consideration. And to consider something means to evaluate it, to think about it, to seek its meaning, to arrive at some kind of understanding. And that's what we're supposed to do, we're supposed to observe the work of God that we might come to a better understanding of the character of God, and of the nature of God. We have to learn, beloved, how to think theologically.

In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider, again, there’s that word consider. For surely God has appointed the one as well as the other. Let me say that again. Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other.

This may be the best kept secret of Christendom. This really speaks to the matter of the sovereignty of God. And what we're called to do in wisdom is to consider the work of God. Not just the creation, but the work of God in history. This is a call to reflection on the providence of God, because who is the author of all things mirthful, all things that count for joy, but God? And we have a tendency to say, "Oh, my confidence in God is strengthened when things happen to me that are enjoyable, when good things happen to me, and my lips want to spew forth thanksgiving and praise to God. Thank you God, for this wonderful thing." And we tend to be able to see the hand of providence in our lives when we pray earnestly for something and God says yes.

But isn't it amazing that when we want something and we want it desperately and we pray about it intensely and the answer is no, what happens? We begin to doubt if there even is a God. So that the no response from God is negative in our lives, whereas the yes response affirms our faith. The author here is saying, if you want to be wise, you consider both, because God's hand is as sovereignly in the no as it is in the yes, and God is displaying His providence as much in tragedy as He is in prosperity. His sovereign rule is manifested.

And I think if there was a secret that earlier generations of Christians who were so much more familiar with pain than we are, and with death and persecution and the like, the reason why they had such a high view of God is because they had so much pain and they were forced to consider the hand of God in the midst of their difficulties. Everything that we study, whether it's the book of James or the epistle of First Peter or the Doctrine of Providence in the many series that we've looked at, even the parables, this theme just keeps coming up again and again and again. God's hand is in affliction. God's sovereignty is manifest in the dark side of life.

And this is said so frequently in the Scripture that we wonder why it's so hard for us to get hold of it. Why we would rather shut out our minds from thinking about this. Why do we go to the house of mirth in the first place? For many of us, many of the times that we go to a party is not simply to have a good time, but to get away from thinking, to get away from considering my life situation. We look for an escape, an avenue of pleasure that will somehow dull the fears and the aches that we carry about, wondering whether perhaps our lives are futile. But the wise looks for the finger of God, in the house of mourning, in the house of mirth, in all things that take place.