Scripture: Deuteronomy 2 (especially verses 24-31)
The question I think about when I read this chapter is, "Why do things happen?" For some things, it's because people choose to do them. For others, the fixed natural laws that govern our world just bring about their natural consequences. For people of faith, another answer can be that God willed and brought about a certain result.
These answers can overlap, and make "Why?" questions tricky. For instance, I might wonder, "Why have I chosen to follow Jesus Christ?" Here are some answers that come to mind:
- I was born into a Christian family
- My personality is such that I am acutely sensitive to the paradoxical glory and baseness of mankind, and the Christian message provides me with the most hopeful, compelling explanation of this phenomenon
- In addition to my family, other life circumstances aligned for me to make the decision and stick to it-- church camps, personal hardships, Bible study groups, etc.
- God chose me before the foundation of the world to love Him
You might ponder the same question for yourself-- why do you believe whatever it is that you believe about the world?
I think you'll find, if you ask this or any other "Why?" question, that there are answers on two levels: natural explanations and supernatural ones. In my list above, the first three points are natural, and the fourth is supernatural (though God may well have control over my family, personality, and circumstances, He is not needed to understand the cause-and-effect nature of these explanations).
And this fascinating truth-- that God can plan and execute decisions through ordinary, natural means-- is on display in Deuteronomy 2.
Why did Israel conquer the Amorites but not make battle with the Ammonites? I'm sure there are all kinds of natural explanations involving numbers of soldiers, weaponry, geographical strategy, etc. But the text provides us with the supernatural explanation: the Lord said, "I will not give you possession of any land belonging to the Ammonites..." but "I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his country."
We are even given a glimpse of how God gives them this land, through striking fear in their enemies' hearts and making the Amorite king more stubborn. It is truly a mystery how God's will and human decisions fit together, but it should be a comfort that even in hard times, nothing is random or arbitrary.
Even as Israel wandered through the wilderness, Moses' words were true: "These forty years, the Lord has been with you."
I found these ideas comforting even in the middle of my cancer. There may well have been ways in which I contributed to my own illness, but also, God allowed me to come to the edge of death. Why?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. But I find comfort in not knowing. I like that there are things I don't understand. I can believe that Hod uses even those things for his glory.