God's Working, In and Around
This morning I’m pondering the great mystery of how God’s sovereignty works in and around our personal choices to fulfil His gracious plan in our lives and in the world. This thought comes to me as I open my Bible and flip past the page that lists all the books that tell of Israel’s history. Joshua, Judges, Ruth. Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther. Stories rich with evidence of God’s compassionate determination to work salvation for us “in and around” our circumstances, our mistakes, our evil inclinations. My heart swells with praise. It occurs to me, as I prepare to write today, that more of those kinds of stories need to be told, so that others can come to know this wonderful Creator. I turn to the Psalms, with a sense that God will lead me to a passage that relates to the thoughts I suspect He has just placed in my mind. My eyes fall on Psalm 77. It begins with lament. “I cried out to God for help, I cried out to God to hear me.” The Psalmist then asks himself some reall...