The ruination of me . . .

 

“Sometimes God will wreck your plans to save your life. Appreciate the detour.”

This quote, source unknown, is good theology. It recognizes the sovereignty of God, His love and foresight for His people, and His ability to take care of the unknowns that could RUIN us. It also flies in the face of the idea that God is some sort of a genie in the sky who exists only to make His followers comfortable.

In my journey with Jesus, there have been times when I thought God had abandoned me because the bottom fell out of my plans, or my comfort zone vanished and life was extremely difficult. But now I know that He “will never leave me or forsake me” and those times in life were for my protection or my growth, like surgery, which is no fun at all but necessary lest I face a far greater and more permanent ruin.

The Lord’s power to ruin things is shown in Exodus when He sent plagues to convince Pharaoh to let His people leave their bondage. Pharaoh didn’t get it, but his servants did. They said, “How long shall this man (Moses) be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Do you not yet understand that Egypt is ruined?”

Later, as the OT people of God entered their new life, He warned them to pay attention to His direction and live according to His guidance:

Deuteronomy 28:63. “And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying you. And you shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”

Realizing this principle didn’t happen overnight. Solomon wrote that “The wise of heart will receive commandments, but a babbling fool will come to ruin” and “Good sense wins favor, but the way of the treacherous is their ruin” yet the people struggled with receiving and obeying God’s commands. Like many of us, they had to learn the hard way.

God does protect, lead and guide His people, but sin is sin and will be dealt with. The prophet said this of those without God and felt they could do whatever they pleased:

Isaiah 47:10–11. “You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me’; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’ But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.”

But this was also said of those who knew God yet resisted His rule:

Jeremiah 9:12–14. “Who is the man so wise that he can understand this? To whom has the mouth of the Lord spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined and laid waste like a wilderness, so that no one passes through? And the Lord says: ‘Because they have forsaken my law that I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice or walked in accord with it, but have stubbornly followed their own hearts and have gone after the Baals, as their fathers taught them.’ ”

Throughout the OT, hope for rebuilding a ruin is offered. This is also quoted in the NT:

Acts 15:15–18. “And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it, that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who makes these things known from of old.’ ”

Yet the warning remains for Christians. God says to watch the company we keep and the attitude we have toward money. He warns about quarrels too.

1 Corinthians 15:33. “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’ ”

1 Timothy 6:9. “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”

2 Timothy 2:14. “Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. From reading the passages about God’s power to ruin, I realize again that He cares more about who I am than anything I claim as important to my comfort, including material goods, friends, ideas, and even health. He can ruin all those things if it will crack my sinful selfishness and bring out the likeness of Jesus to replace them. I need to always remember that Jesus said, “Not my will but Thine be done” just before He submitted to death — that I might not experience ruination and God’s judgment on my sin.