History Provides Only The Works of God Stand The Test of Time
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(6) And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, (7) in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. (8) For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (9) not by works, so that no one can boast.’ (Ephesians 2:6-9)
We can look back in our history and find seminal events; we celebrate our Veterans tomorrow for their past service to our nation, both in peacetime and in war. The precursor to Veterans Day was Armistice Day or the day ending World War I, a war that neither took God by surprise or an ending of hostilities that God didn’t know would happen or the results that followed. People cheered and later celebrated the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, which stripped Germany of its treasure and its strength. It appeared to be ‘peace in our time’ that would last forever (as stated by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938), but the Lord knew that this would feed German anger, and in response give rise to Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party that would engulf the world into war for a second time in 1939, this time bloodier and more far-reaching.
Dr. Charles Stanley once asked the question, ‘Is God impressed with man’s works?’ The answer is a resounding ‘no’. While we can use history to gauge and compare our current situation, or to gain a perspective on future possibilities, we have to remember that God transcends time; he is now in what we consider the past, present, and future all at the same time. Nothing surprises Him, and nothing we do impresses Him as He has given us the capabilities, knowledge, and resources to do what we do, have done or will do.
This does not mean God is not pleased (or displeased) in what we do. We know God has righteous anger and has righteous pleasure in what we do as it is demonstrated throughout the Bible (particularly the Old Testament). Do we willfully obey or disobey Him, do we worship Him or do we tolerate Him? Regardless, our works and accomplishments cannot be done without Him and the gifts He has provided us. I could not do these ‘WOTDs’ without His gift of providing me the means of prolific ‘gab’. I pray this is pleasing to Him and that it serves His purpose.
We also cannot despair over our current situations; the Lord has given us the wisdom to look back and see that others in the past had far worse situations. We lived through COVID, a pandemic that 99.7% of us survived. In the 1300’s, people had to go through the bubonic plague, which had a survival rate of roughly 25% (or 3 out of 4 people died). We understand and learn what precautions to take and how to prevent, thanks to that which we have been allowed to go through.
Yet again, though, we see another turning away from God by people. We who have Faith know that this has happened before, and that corrective actions will be made to have people return to God. What we don’t know is when or how it will happen, but we do know it will happen – we know that in the end of the Bible this will be corrected permanently sometime in the future.
We who believe can see that God provides for us the ability to grow, to correct our course, and the Grace to be forgiven when we go ‘outside the lines’. It is never in our power nor is it a permanent solution when man’s power is used; only God and permanently resolve our issues. It is so we cannot claim credit but to give Him all the accolades and give Him the glory for that which He gives. The only thing we can do that lasts is to be the witness and provide others the Good News of the Gospel so that they may be saved by Jesus – this is what is pleasing to God!
