For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
- John 3:16
Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love endures forever.
- Psalm 136:26
Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
- Psalm 55:22
“I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
- Job 42:2
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
- Romans 8:28
“13. Lastly, by attending to the advantage which the godly derive from it. For we know certainly, 1. That God takes care of the whole human race, but especially of his Church. 2. That God governs all things & by his will, and regulates them by his wisdom. 3. That he has most abundant power of doing good; for in his hand are heaven and earth, all creatures are subject to his sway, the godly rest on his protection, and the power of hell is restrained by his authority. That nothing happens by chance, though the causes may be concealed, but by the will of God; by his secret will which we are unable to explore, but adore with reverence, and by his will which is conveyed to us in the Law and in the Gospel.”
- John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Aphorisms
John Calvin did not write these aphorisms. They are a summarization of what he wrote in Institutes of the Christian Religion. There are 100 aphorisms.
Here we seem to have a summary within the summary. God is love. He loves us and His church, meaning the body of believers.
God cares for us. It may not seem so at times. We may be out of work, and the new job does not come in before the money is gone. Then the new job is not what we really wanted when it does come, but God may be asking us to bloom where planted.
God is sovereign. While we have free will, God orchestrates the circle of friends, acquaintances, and people we have never met to have His will done. With our mistakes, it will not be perfect. But God has a contingency plan even for the mistakes we make. And God’s overall plan, to save His elect and end evil forever is still getting closer to the end each day.
Nothing happens by chance. As one speaker on Creation and God’s Sovereignty said, “Luck does not exist. It is God’s plan working in our lives, what we might call the good luck and bad luck.
Think of it this way, if a rabbit’s foot is lucky, was it good luck for the rabbit?
All things work for the good for those who love the Lord and have been called according to His purpose, but they may not feel good at the time. That is usually because we used our free will to veer off the path and there is a bit of pain involved with getting back on the right path. But that pain is good for us, telling us which way to not travel again.
If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.
Soli Deo Gloria. Only to God be the Glory.
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