Tuesday - Proverbs 16 - God in Charge

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INCE God is in charge, rebels will never get away with their rebellion.  Justice is frequently delayed, but it is never forgotten or canceled.  We know that it can be transferred to Christ, but still, it is never compromised.  On the other hand, since God is completely in control, as long as God decrees that we will be safe, His happily compliant children are absolutely safe.  Either way, God is the boss.  (Proverbs 16:9).

Underneath all of this absolutely true "God-is-in­control" stuff (which flies far over the head of all of us) we find an inescapable demand that WE do the right things.  And rewards are unmistakably promised.  How can individual honor and reward run parallel with the eternal omniscience, omnipresence and sovereignty of the Almighty?  Culpability and credentials are not just mirages to or from which humans stumble aimlessly and hopelessly (Proverbs 16:31).  We really and actually do rule our spirit - or release it to our own destruction.  The choice is genuinely ours (Proverbs 16:32).  Notice that the CHOICE is ours.  We choose to gamble with our own soul, or not.  But we do not get to choose the results of our risk.  As Solomon wrote so adeptly in Proverbs 16:33, "The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD."  Daily, we all roll dice either large or small.  But, only God knows (and controls) how they roll; which face will end up on top (Philippians 2:13 & Romans 9:16).  This phenomenon demonstrates most clearly our desperate need for God’s grace in our lives.