I'm disappointed today – very disappointed! (Stroll to window or door.) See that? (rain) It's not what I prayed for; I prayed for sunshine and good weather for our outdoor service and neighborhood picnic! How could that be wrong, especially after inviting so many to worship with us? But now look at what's happened. I'm sure people didn't come because of this rain. The day is ruined. How do you explain that? God says, “Ask and it will be given to you” (Mt.7:7). Well, I didn't get what I asked for, and I received what I never wanted. Why would He do that?
As I was thinking about this before we started, it reminded me of a story I once told. In a somewhat similar setting of rain, a little boy complained to his mother that he had asked God for sunshine on his birthday. “But now look at it,” he said. “It's raining, and my birthday is ruined. Why didn't God answer my prayer?”
His mother replied with a story, “One day two boys went outside with shovels and dug up some ground. One planted a garden and the other collected worms. That night the boy with the garden prayed for rain. The other boy prayed for sunshine so that he could go fishing. What would you expect God to do?”
“I don't know,” her son responded. His mother said, “Wouldn't it be better for us just to tell the all-wise, all-powerful, all-holy God what we would like and then be glad that He decides what is best – even if it brings rain? Maybe other people needed rain on your birthday. Maybe there's another reason for the storms that we can't see but He knows. God doesn't always think the way we do; He doesn't always do what we want.”
Then she looked her little boy in the eye and said, “God is just; God is holy; God is loving and kind ; He knows all things and does what is best . He is never wrong in what He does. So Live in Him, not yourself; and trust that He is always gracious to us.”
I. God knows all things and does what is best.
Have you, like me and that little boy, ever been disappointed that God didn't do things the way you wanted; that He didn't follow through on what you thought was best? In such times of disappointment, the question is often asked, “Why would God not do this?” or “Why did God allow that?”
For example: “Why did God let it rain today?” Or “Why would God allow these hurricanes to destroy peoples' lives?” Or “Why would God allow my spouse or my child to suffer in their last days?” Or “Why won't this pain inside go away?” “Why, God, why?” We're disappointed that God didn't do what we wanted and thought to be best. We want answers! Our sinful flesh demands it!
Well, in our first lesson today the Almighty, the All-knowing, the Holy God speaks and gives us His answer. He said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. My ways are higher than your ways” (Is.55:6f).
His answer? “It's my way,” He says. That's it? Yes. Are you satisfied? Many aren't. But before you walk away from it, remember whose answer this is: “Declares the Lord,” Isaiah writes.
This is not a God who passes you off. No, this is our Lord, the God who delivered Egypt from their troubles and brought them into the Promised Land, the God of full, faithful, and steadfast grace, the One who became a man to walk on earth with us – who lived for us, hung on the cross for us, suffered hell for us, and rose for us that we might be forgiven and live through Him. He says, “This is my way, my higher way. You'll have to trust me on this. My credentials? The cross and the eternal life I won for you.”
Now, that may not suddenly turn all your sorrows into joy. Seeing a loved one suffer still hurts. Losing a loved one still hurts. Seeing people's lives ruined still hurts. Such pains may not go away. But we know the Lord. He loves us so much that He sacrificed His one and only Son for us. That wouldn't have been the way we would have done it. But in that He shows that He knows all things that need to be done and He does what is best.
It's the same in every other situation in our lives. For some reason, often beyond our understanding, He allows difficulties and pain to come to us now; the rain comes when we prayed for good weather; it's His way. But He also promises that everything will turn out for our good, even when people or things intend to harm us. Like Joseph said last week, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish…the saving of many lives” (Gen.50:19). And one day He will deliver us by His side where we will be safe with Him forever. This is His way. He knows all things and does what is best for us when we can't see it. Such is His assurance as we live in Him and not just for ourselves.
II. But if that's not enough to satisfy you, He also let's us know in our lessons today that God is never wrong in what He does. Never.
So it was that Jesus told the story of a landowner who hired men to work in his vineyard. Throughout various hours of the day, he got more men to work for him. They had agreed to the pay that would be received. But when everyone received the same amount, the ones who worked the longest hours grumbled and complained and cried, “Unfair! It's not right! We had to work all day long, while these guys came late and got just as much as we did. We ought to get more.” And to that complaint the landowner replied, “Friend, I am not being unfair to you.”
What do you think? They had worked unequal amounts of time. Some of them had worked for only 1 hour while others had been hard at work all day. Still, they all received the same amount. Did the owner do them wrong?
A quick reflection reveals the answer – no. The owner gave them exactly what he had promised and what at the start they had been very happy to receive. He did not wrong them in what he did.
He is never wrong in what He does. The Bible says, “The Lord is upright and there is no wickedness in Him” (Ps.92:15). How does that translate into those who live in Him? King David writes (Ps.37:25), “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed.”
Always cared for like He promised – that's what the Lord Jesus does for those who live in Him. That doesn't mean it's not going to rain on our parade; it doesn't mean there isn't illness in life; it doesn't mean catastrophes won't strike. No. These are things He told us would happen in a sin-fallen world.
But in the midst of it all He promised to give help and blessing. And He does. You could say that's His agreement, an agreement He does not break for He is never wrong in what He does.
III. In fact He is always gracious to us , gracious towards those who come to Him in faith and live in Him. And it doesn't matter how long they believed or how much work they did for Him; God is gracious.
Some years ago a pastor told a story that illustrates this point from the parable Jesus told in our text. His story goes like this. “I sat at the bedside of an elderly man in the hospital. He had asked
me to pray for him. I was very glad and thankful for his request. I was also amazed. A few weeks ago when I came into this same room to visit a member, this man shook his head and said, “I don't want any part of that religious nonsense!” My visits continued, and thankfully the condition of our member in the bed next to this older man improved. Although he didn't want to admit it, this often crotchety man listened to our devotions.
It was on the day that our friend was moved to another room that this man asked me to pray for him. The power of the Word had had its desired effect. Over the next weeks I had the privilege of sharing the rich blessings of God's Word and the great treasure of forgiveness with a now willing listener. On one bright afternoon the man confided, “I'm glad the Lord didn't give up on me. I'm so happy he called me even at this late date.” The Lord Jesus had indeed been patiently, graciously knocking at the door of his heart and finally entered by the Spirit's power.”
You see, dear friends, just like in the parable Jesus told, God calls His people into His kingdom at different times. For some it is early in their lives as babies. For others it is later on when people are looking for the meaning of things. For still others it comes very late, at a time when everyone else has given up on that person – all except God. He is still gracious and calls people to faith in Him.
Isn't that the way it was for the Apostle Paul? Think of what a stinker he had been, how he had resisted Christ and persecuted the Church. But later on God's call to faith came to him on the road to Damascus and the crotchety, resistant Saul became the missionary Paul, eager to work for the Lord. So he said in our second lesson, “The important thing is that Christ is preached…Because of this I rejoice…For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phlp.1:21). How thankful He was for grace.
If he kept on living, God would graciously give him the opportunity to show many others the way to heaven in the Lord Jesus. If he died he would get to see the Lord Jesus in heaven. Both were good, and Paul marveled that God had been so gracious to him to give him such a life when he had been such a bad person. So, whether you were called to the Savior when you were young or old, God is gracious in His call to faith. None of us deserves it, yet in love He offers to all alike his saving blessings from sin, and nothing can rain on that! It's not our way of doing things, but it is His and He is never wrong. So live in Him . Amen.