My Sin For My Good?

I was writing to a friend last night and said something to this effect...I am so thankful that when our sin interferes with God's plan for our lives that He is able to adapt to our failure, bring us into a new plan and purpose and renew our hope. Basically saying, that no matter what we do, God can and will still use us for the advancement of His Kingdom.

But upon further reflection, I think that was really bad theology on my part, although the last part is certainly true in and of itself. God isn't taken by surprise by our sin and than has to scramble to adjust His plans for us. I think that we can certainly get in the way of God's blessings for us by living outside His will but he has already predetermined that. This is where it gets tough. We have free will but God has already ordained everything that is going to happen. There are a few verses in the Bible that speak to this mystery which rocks our finite brains but the one that comes to mind first is Proverbs 16:9 - "In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps."

To take it a step further...God not only knows our sin ahead of time but uses it to accomplish His purposes. In his book "Spectacular Sins", Piper recalls the story of Samson and his desire for a Philistine woman (Judges 14:13). She clearly has no faith in God and so taking her as wife was a sin. The next verse immediately shows that God is using Samson's lust and illicit desire to seek an opportunity against the Philistines.

Of course, the most dramatic example of God using our sin for His good (which means ultimately for OUR good) is the culmination of the sins of Pilate and the Romans and the mob and the soldiers surrounding the crucifixion of our Savior. God had predetermined their sins and used their corrupt hearts to bring about the most tragic chapter in human history...the death of God. However, it was also the greatest love story in human history. God chose to save us from sin by using our sin.

Let none of this serve to cause us to take our sin more lightly or think that it has some inherent redeeming value. Rather, let it cause us to marvel at the sovereignty of our God.

My Refrain

When the day is closing in
Like the stars in the night I am falling
Into the pull of the earth and it's affection
In me, oh Lord, can you create
A pure heart cause I'm afraid
That I just might run back to the things I hate

Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Satisfy me Lord, oh oh
Yeah, I'm begging You, to help me see
You're all I want, You're all I need
Oh, satisfy me Lord

A Picture is Worth...

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. - Romans 8:22-25

Today's Interesting Fact

Hiroo Onoda holds the honor of the last Japanese soldier to surrender. In 1944, Lt. Onoda was sent by the Japanese army to the remote Philippine island of Lubang. His mission was to conduct guerrilla warfare during World War II. Unfortunately, he was never officially told the war had ended; so for 29 years, Onoda continued to live in the jungle, ready for when his country would again need his services and information. Eating coconuts and bananas and deftly evading searching parties he believed were enemy scouts, Onoda hid in the jungle until he finally emerged from the dark recesses of the island on March 19, 1972.