The God who accomplishes his will

In these difficult times, we often hear from pastors, “God is still in control.”

But do we believe it?

One thing I think we see from this passage is that God is in control, even when we can’t always see it.

He made his intentions clear from the very beginning, promising to Abraham that through him, all nations would be blessed.

He then promised to David that one of his descendants would reign forever.

How did this all happen? Through one unbroken line of blessing?

Actually no. When you look at the family line of the Messiah, you see a people corrupted and broken by sin.

You see Judah and his brothers who initially tried to kill their brother Joseph, before eventually sending him off into slavery in Egypt.

Yet God had not lost control. He used Joseph to save not only his family, but the Egyptians themselves, as well as the surrounding peoples.

You see times of God’s judgment in the form of famine, because of his people’s sin. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes, but in the process, they became utterly corrupt.

In the midst of that corruption, people like Naomi suffered great sorrow. Perhaps in her bitterness over losing her husband and sons, she wondered if God had lost control.

But instead, God used all this to bring a foreigner named Ruth into the family line of Jesus, showing that he already was keeping his promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him.

You also see the good kings and the bad kings throughout Israel’s history.

David’s family threatened to tear itself apart because of his failures as a husband and a father.

Rehoboam actually did tear the nation apart because of his foolish decisions. The result was civil war, idolatry, the murder of innocent children, and all manner of atrocities ultimately leading to exile. Had God lost control?

No, even in all that, God had not lost control. He brought his people back.

Foreign nations opposed them, oppressed them, and even tried to annihilate them. But though all that, God kept that line of Messiah alive.

And then Jesus was born. His very name expresses God’s plan and purpose through all of history. “Yahweh saves.”

That’s our hope in the midst of all the chaos around us.

What God has promised, he will bring about. And nothing and no one can keep him from accomplishing his purpose.