Who is running things?

 

READ 1 Chronicles 6–10

Yesterday I wrote about running errands on a chilly day and experiencing green lights and amazing freedom in traffic and finding parking. That and today’s reading reminds me that even though “the devil is in the details” is a more common saying, the truth is that “God is in the details” and the devil only tries to make us think he is in control.

These chapters are again filled with hundreds of names, genealogies showing that God takes note of all those who serve Him. For instance, some of them were musicians:

These are the men whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the Lord after the ark rested there. They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they performed their service according to their order. (1 Chronicles 6:31–32)

Others had different responsibilities: “Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.” (6:49)

Even where they lived was set by God, not only the priestly tribes but each clan. The sons of Aaron were given Hebron. Caleb was given the fields of the city and its villages. The sons of Aaron received the cities of refuge, and so on. Each had a purpose and a place designated by the Lord.

Some were given leadership roles. Most of them belonged to “units of the army for war” and “they had many wives and sons.” This organization of God’s people was both before the exile and after.

So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith. Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem: (1 Chronicles 9:1–3)

He appointed “mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God” and chief officers as well as gatekeepers and guards for the tabernacle, and those who took charge of the work of the service, those who were entrusted to be over the chambers and the treasures of the house of God, and those in charge of the utensils of service, counting them when they were brought in and taken out. Others of them were appointed over the furniture, all the holy utensils, the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices. Others prepared the mixing of the spices, and still others entrusted with making the flat cakes, and with preparing the showbread every Sabbath. The singers were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night. (9:17-33) Is this not like NT church order with descriptions of spiritual gifts and our duties to the Lord and each other?

The last part of these chapters tells of the death of Saul and his sons. He fell on his own sword rather than die at the hands of the Philistines. “When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them.”

The story ends saying that “Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.” (10:1–14)

Yet this news also shows God in the details. The account is long compared to what is said about the many names listed in the first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles. For me, this stresses the importance of doing what a servant of God should be doing according to the gifts and resources God gives, in the place where God puts that servant, and always seeking the guidance that God gives rather than doing our own thing.

God is in the details. Yesterday I called a friend I’ve not talked to for several weeks. She told me that when the phone rang, she was talking to her caregiver about me. This is one of dozens of stories of unusual things happening that make sense only to those who know that the Lord is sovereign and that He cares about even our smallest needs and deeds, sometimes with humor, or odd ‘coincidences’ but always with grace and loving kindness.

 

“I Spy God” in the details . . .

 

READ 2 Kings 5–8

Protagonists in fiction mysteries often say, “I don’t believe in coincidences.” Maybe that is why I like these stories and television shows such as NCIS and most of the British mysteries; their stars support a major truth about the events in this world — there are no coincidences because the Sovereign God is involved.

Most of the time, we mere mortals are clueless to what He is doing or why, not that Christians doubt His sovereignty; we are just not tuned into His plans. However, in today’s reading there is one incident that seems insignificant, yet illustrates the way God orchestrates what many might call a coincidence.

A few chapters back, Elisha restored the life of a woman’s son. She had taken care of him and when he knew that God was sending a famine, he gave her some advice:

Now Elisha had said to the woman whose son he had restored to life, “Arise, and depart with your household, and sojourn wherever you can, for the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon the land for seven years.” So the woman arose and did according to the word of the man of God. She went with her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.

She didn’t stay there forever, but when she came home, her property had fallen into the hands of other people . . .

And at the end of the seven years, when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. Now the king was talking with Gehazi the servant of the man of God, saying, “Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.”

Coincidence that Elisha’s servant was talking to the king when this woman approached? Not at all, considering the power God already had demonstrated to this women . . .

And while (Gehazi) was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life, behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life appealed to the king for her house and her land. And Gehazi said, “My lord, O king, here is the woman, and here is her son whom Elisha restored to life.” And when the king asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed an official for her, saying, “Restore all that was hers, together with all the produce of the fields from the day that she left the land until now.” (2 Kings 8:1–6)

God put her there at exactly the right time so the king would grant the restoration of not only her land but the crops it had produced in the seven years while she was gone. Notably, she was gone that length of time because the man of God told her what God had revealed to him, and this protected her from a far greater loss. In other words, she did what God arranged for her protection and survived the famine. When it was over, He also arranged for her to be in the right place at the right time to receive back what was rightfully hers from the king who was impressed by the deeds of the prophet, Elisha.

When I do what God says, even if it seems strange or self-protective or has nothing to do with anything important, I need to remember that it is God who weaves the fabric of life. I’ve no idea what that weaving looks like nor do I realize the importance of each thread. I only know that He does not make mistakes, nor does He ever have to rip something out and re-do it. There are no coincidences, only God who works all things according to the council of His own will.

The bigger picture is impossible to see, but this working of God is a promise that is personal:

I know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

All things means all things, including those events that look like they have no reason for happening. For this truth, I am thankful to God and grateful that He is motivated by love and by pure goodness! He wants me to be like Jesus, and that is a good reason to trust Him.