"Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name." ~ Jeremiah 31:35I urge you to read Jeremiah 31:31-37 (which is a bit long of a passage to put here in this post). God is so good and merciful, and He is also sovereign!
This week is going to be a very busy one, and I have a feeling that there's going to be a lot of emotional stress/turmoil for me in the coming days before Thanksgiving break. But in all that is to come (much of which is self-induced, to be honest, as I usually don't attempt to work ahead as I ought to), I can rest in the fact that God is in control. No matter what we do, God still fulfills His purposes in the world.
I've been reminded recently in my reading for my Christian Theology class that God, while completely loving and forgiving, is also completely just. In fact, His justice goes hand-in-hand with His wrath. He expresses wrath and righteous anger against sin, because as perfect God He must hate sin. That's why Jesus was the propitiation for us--God's wrath had to be fulfilled, through God Himself as Jesus (the perfect sacrifice), in order for us to be close to Him. In that way, His wrath was satisfied and His grace could be given.
Now, what does that have to do with God being in control? Well, as I was also reminded in my reading, we tend to downplay the wrath of God. But God's wrath is not "bad" at all, and should not be dismissed. It is good to have a holy fear of the power of God. We are supposed to be humble before Him. And in the truth of His strength and His justice, we can rest in the fact that He is above us all and worthy of our praise and trust. Whatever we go through in this life, He is powerful to work through us and through the hard times we face.
"For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished."
~ Jeremiah 30:11
(The ocean picture is from this site.)
