God Getting Even With His Enemies? Never!!!!

     "For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast:  I am the Lord"  Exodus 12:12.
    "And I will punish the world for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible:  Isaiah 13:11.
     In every case, without exception, the divine judgments of former times and those ahead are the exercise of divine wisdom and mercy.  Never has God lost emotional control or laid aside the supremacy of His love to get even with His enemies.  Never has He caused human suffering for the sake of personal satisfaction.  For He says, "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?  Ezekiel 33:11.
     God has never acted contrary to the very best interest of all His created beings.  Not once has He violated the reigning principle of His nature, which is love  "His works are perfect, and all His ways are just.  A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He"  Deuteronomy 32: 4.
     God is not the source of the small daily annoyances that try us, nor is He the cause of the major tragedies that afflict us.  But He does possess sovereign power over the affairs of every life, over all of nature, and even over the devil and all his followers.  What does this mean at the practical level of our lives?  It means that no trying experience, either small or great,  ever happens to us that He does not allow for our ultimate benefit.
     Here again, as with all of God's ways, His love shines forth as an unconquerable power for good.  While the Almighty One does not arbitrarily bring evil upon us, in His infinite wisdom He is able to use the trials of life for our best interest.  He knows that if He were to shield us from every annoyance and affliction we would become spiritual weaklings and dwarfs in character.
     Paul saw God's power and wisdom operating far above the circumstances of our lives.  He "worketh all things after the counsel of His will"  Ephesians 1:11.  "All things work together for good to to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose"  Romans 8:28.  The Lord is actually able to work out everything we experience to a profitable end.

     (Tomorrow we will realize some potential benefits to be gained from trying experiences.  I hope you are enjoying this book to it's fullest.   I sure am.  I am sure that you are too.  Grandma Joan.)