An Appeal to Reason and Faith # 1

 An Appeal to Reason and Faith # 1

By Elihu, God asks Job: "Should I do just as you imagine - ought I to consult your whims? Should it be according to your mind?" (Job 34:33).

Poor Job found his trial too great for his patience, and he complained, he fretted himself, he reflected badly on God's dealings with him, and stumbled at the dispensations of Divine Providence. How often, how very often - do we do the same! We complain - when we ought to be grateful; we fret - when we ought to praise. We reflect badly on God's ways - when we ought to condemn ourselves; and we stumble at divine providences - when we ought to be resting on the promises.

Complain! What can a sinner have to complain of - who is out of fhell? Fret! What can a believer have to fret about - whose heaven is secure? Reflect badly on God's dealings! What, when all His ways are mercy and truth - to such as keep His covenant and His testimonies? Stumble at divine providences! What should stumble us, who are assured that all things shall work together for our good?

With such conduct God may well be displeased! For such conduct God may well chastise us. But He condescends to reason with us. He appeals to our sense of right. He makes us reprove and correct ourselves. He asks US: "Should I do just as you imagine - ought I to consult your whims? Should it be according to your mind?

To what does this apply? To God's dealings with us as individuals. Should the Most High God consult us - before He gives, or takes, works, or suspends His operations? Are we to be consulted as to the way in which He will lead us home, or the means by which He will prepare us for the joys which are at His right hand? If the Lord promises to do us good by all things - is He to consult us as to how He shall work, or by whom, or by what He shall accomplish His purposes?

It will apply, also, to God's dealings with others. It may be our friends, or our foes; our relatives or strangers; the Church, or the world. God has taken the management of His world, and every individual in it; of the Church, and every believer that composes it - into His own hand! He says, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure. I will work, and who shall hinder Me?" Yes, who has a right to question Him, or to find fault with Him? Do you claim such a right? From whence did you derive it? How do you vindicate it? Things may be done that baffle your reason, perplex your mind, confound your judgment, and grieve your heart - but may they not be right for all that? May they not be the wisest and the best? "Should it be according to your mind?"

But, why do you think thus?

Are you wiser than God? His wisdom is infinite. Is it possible that you can imagine yourself capable of devising a wiser plan, or of executing God's plan in a more judicious manner? But if not, "Should it be according to your mind?"

Are you kinder than God? His loving-kindness to man is declared in His Word, proved by His works, and is gloriously displayed in our salvation by His Son. His loving-kindness is great beyond conception, and tender beyond description. Kinder than God! You - kinder than God? But if not, "Should it be according to your mind?"

Are you holier than God? He is holy in His nature, and holy in His works. He does nothing but what is strictly just, perfectly right, and calculated to produce the greatest good. If you are not more holy, more just, more righteous than God, "Should it be according to your mind?"

Are you better informed than God? Do you know more of the nature, dispositions, and tendencies of His creatures than He does? Can you see the end from the beginning, and the working of all things to bring about the end, fixed by His wisdom and grace - better than He does? He knows the whole and every part, the present and the future, which you do not! Your mind is dark, confused, selfish, unsettled, and often undecided! "Should it be according to your mind?"

~James Smith~