Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

“We do not pray to change God’s mind, but to be conformed to His eternal, perfect purpose.” ~ John Owen

Some would foolishly say that they cannot pray that God’s will be done, because to do so, they believe, is a lack of faith. Is it ignorance of who God is, or is it something worse that would lead to such a foolish statement?

Have we no understanding of the Sovereign, Efficacious Will of God—that will by which He decrees all things according to His good pleasure and His wise counsel, which cannot be thwarted or frustrated by man?

Have we no understanding of the comfort to the children of God, that we can trust that God is sovereign, and that He is not reacting to circumstances but He governs all things according to His will? Have we no understanding that our faith is not in a god that is irrational, capricious, or whose decisions are contingent upon what man will do?

To strip God of His sovereignty, or of governing all things after the counsel of His will, proves the ignorance, arrogance, and foolishness of man. It is to deny that God is God.

God is not a god of disorder; rather, He is a God of order. He didn’t just wind things up and leave it up to man to keep it going by taking up our supposed authority and power over all things. God is still God.

While it may seem unsettling to some that God is even sovereign over the weather, over sickness, and all things, to the child of God that ought to encourage our faith. God is sovereign. If He were not, then what reason would we have at all to pray?

When we learn more of who God is, our faith is greatly encouraged. We do not have a blind faith or wishful thinking, for our God has revealed Himself in Scripture and in creation. He has made Himself known to us.

The ignorant cling to beliefs that demand of them a faith that leads them after counterfeits and to practices that dishonor God and blaspheme His name, His character, who He is, and what He has done. What they think they do to honor Him, in reality strips Him of the glory He is due and of who He is. But even this is not outside His will. He allows such things, and all according to His will, and ultimately for His own glory.

Those who hate the God of Scripture will create many counterfeits and lead men after them. Their god is ascribed many of the Attributes of God, but none are perfect, and all are corrupted by man. They have a gospel much like the gospel in Scripture, but it is corrupted. No man has ever been able to recreate a god of their own that is like the God of Scripture. Man always creates an imperfect counterfeit that, when compared to Scripture, proves false. Many come close, as they adopt so much of the language, beliefs, and practices of the true, but the imperfect will never compare to what is holy and will always be nothing more than a cheap counterfeit.

God, in His perfect will, ordains all things. What we understand as the Attributes of God, are best known as His Perfections. God’s will is not something we can bend or manipulate. It is perfect. We pray, and we are changed and conformed to His will. The more we learn of who God is, we do not want to change Him, and the more we want to be changed by Him.

Grace and Peace, y’all
Soli Deo Gloria

April J. Buchanan