Day 20: God Wields an Empire

From John Piper . . .

“Have you ever felt, like me, little and insignificant in a world of seven billion people, where all the news is of big political and economic and social movements and of outstanding people with lots of power and prestige?

If you have, don’t let that make you disheartened or unhappy. For it is implicit in Scripture that all the mammoth political forces and all the giant industrial complexes, without their even knowing it, are being guided by God, not for their own sake but for the sake of God’s little people — the little Mary and the little Joseph who have to be got from Nazareth to Bethlehem. God wields an empire to bless His children . . .

Do not think, because you experience adversity, that the hand of the Lord is shortened. It is not our prosperity but our holiness that he seeks with all his heart. And to that end, he rules the whole world . . .

He is a big God for little people, and we have great cause to rejoice that, unbeknownst to them, all the kings and presidents and premiers and chancellors of the world follow the sovereign decrees of our Father in heaven, that we, the children, might be conformed to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.”

Reflection:

“It is not our prosperity but our holiness that he seeks with all his heart.”

I love knowing that He truly is a big God for little people but I sometimes forget that He is truly “for” me.

Or maybe I just forget that what He is really “for” is my transformation, my being “conformed to the image of His son, Jesus Christ” and that usually doesn’t come about as a result of prosperity. More than likely it comes about as a result of adversity.

As you reflect on the past year, write down those times of adversity which, whether you see it or not, He has used to shape you, mold you, change you.

Thank Him for his faithfulness to always be at work in your life.

Remember: if God is for us, then who could be against us. Everything He does is for your good, and His glory.