Tools In the Hand of the Master Craftsman

This past Sunday we considered how God was sovereign over all history and how His plan for eternity is unstoppable as even the sin and evil that exists serves His purposes. In my studies I came across Isaiah 10 where God is showing how He rules over everything, even countries and nations that despise Him. Isaiah 10:5-15 gives us a glimpse of how God used the sinful nation of Assyria.

Tools

Assyria was a constant and aggressive enemy of Israel. They were a warring nation, attacking those they thought weaker. Yet, despite their bloodthirsty ways God used them to carry out His justice. Specifically, we read that, “the staff in their hands is my fury! (Isaiah 10:5b)” However, in the midst of their conquests the Assyrian King becomes increasingly proud of his perceived power. It is at that point that God humbles him by saying,

[15] Shall the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
Isaiah 10:15

Assyria was a tool in the hand of God and therefore it is not mightier than God. Just as an axe is useless apart from someone to wield it, Assyria was powerless apart from God’s sovereign working through them. Any victory they won was only won b/c God allowed it and had a greater purpose for it.

Hope and Comfort in Our Unstoppable God

What I find astounding about the truth that sits in these verses is that God is so powerful that even those who hate Him, who curse His name, who think themselves independent of Him all serve His greater purpose. They may not realize it, but even their acts of rebellion play the notes of the great song He is composing. As we considered on Sunday, how much hope and comfort does this offer us as Children of God who live in a world over run by evil? Things may feel chaotic at times, and they should as sin is chaos, however God is behind the scenes of all human history conducting a song so epic and beautiful that it will take all of eternity to soak in an appreciate. We can look beyond the headlines of today’s news and know that God is at work and it is good.

Are you in awe of God’s might? His power? How He carefully orchestrates things in such an amazing manner? How He can make His enemies unwittingly serve His purpose to bring glory to His name?

Let us echo Isaiah’s praise when he says…

[1] O LORD, you are my God;
I will exalt you; I will praise your name,
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
Isaiah 25:1

As the Sovereign One His plans and purposes are unstoppable! Our eternities are secure! His glory will go on forever!

To listen to the full sermon on Joseph and the Sovereign God Over All History CLICK HERE

 

 

A Word About the Series: "Cutting Room Floor"
One of the hardest parts of studying for Sundays is that we often have more content than we could ever fit into one sermon as truth about God leaps off the pages of Scripture. So just like a film editor who takes out scenes that he loves for the sake of time and the flow of the story he is telling we find ourselves in the same situation many weeks. Some of the truth that gets left behind on the cutting room floor impacts me greatly and I hate to hoard it all to myself so something I am going to start doing (as time allows) is updating our blog with truth that is left on the cutting room floor. I hope it encourages you as much as it does me.

Comments for this post have been disabled