“I have observed something else under the sun. The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither bread to the wise, nor riches to men of skill; but time and chance happen to them all,” Ecclesiastes 9:11.
I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy, and those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by design, by being in God and in the right place at the right time. God is the creator of heaven and earth. All things take place under His divine providence. As a sovereign God, His guidance and care are accessible to all believers. God governs His creation as a loving Father, working out all things for our good. God knows what is best for us. As an omniscient God (all-knowing), He knows what is good for us and what is not. He knows the truth from false. He knows the past, present, and future. His knowledge does not change.
Nothing is learned without Him. God’s knowledge of life is an open ‘Theism.’
We believe in the existence of God as creator of the universe and all things. And we have a personal relationship with Him as His creation. We believe in His divine nature as Father of all. There is only one God, one Father, one Creator of all. This is ‘Mono-the-ism’: there is only one God. We do not believe in ‘Poly-the-ism,’ or the belief in ‘many gods.’ There is only one God, who exists as or in three equally divine Persons: The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit.
God came to us in a threefold figure, as Creator, as Saver, and as Helper. He is the Father, Judge, and Lord in the incarnated figure of Jesus Christ, who lived among human beings and was present in our midst as the ‘Resurrected One,’ and Holy Spirit. He is our helper, intercessor, and bringer of ‘new life.’
“Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord,” Deuteronomy 6:4.
We believe the ‘Shema,’ i.e., to hear, to listen, to take action, and obey God. To obey God is to hear God.
There are laws created by God that govern the universe. However, sometimes ‘chance’ comes along and what seems as though it should be, isn’t what it is.
Their are times when things happen that we have no control over. Life is full of challenges. Some challenges are big, and some challenges are small. The question I ask you today is this: Are you equipped for challenge? How determined are you? Do you have the integrity and tenacity that only God can give?
Everyone has a God-given destiny. King Solomon knew and saw the divine providence of God when he said:
“For all I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous and the wise and their works are in the hands of God. You need to know, and you must know, that your life is in the hands of God,” Ecclesiastes 9:1.
