As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
There has been no shortage of debate amongst Christians about the relationship between divine sovereignty and human responsibility. Because of our finite perspective —and our insistence on having a theology that logically makes sense to us—we are tempted to downplay, diminish, or even outright reject one of these truths in favor of the other.
“God’s sovereignty and the wicked acts of men coordinate most shockingly in the death of Jesus. God used ‘the hands of lawless men’ to execute His ‘definite plan’ to offer His precious Son as payment for our sins (Acts 2:23; 4:28).” - Ligonier
Lately, the words of this classic hymn have echoed in my head. The stirring melody by Jean Sebelius has become the theme music for my summer. Be Still My Soul.
“I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I’m the only person in the world who reads through back issues of the Ann Arbor Baptist, a periodical from the late 1800s. But periodicals like that were the blogs of their era and within their pages I find such interesting articles and poems.” - Challies
“Why does God restore Job? I won’t bury the answer: God is God and he does what he wants. He wants to restore Job. This is what the entire book drives at.” - TGC
“Think about it. We could have an all-powerful God who doesn’t love us. Or we could have a loving God who means well but doesn’t have the power to make good things happen. Instead…” - Randy Alcorn
“Our faith is rightly fixed in the God who… ‘upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty—all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but from his fatherly hand.’” - Challies
“Everything we see around us belongs to God and is ‘on loan’ to us, even our very lives.” - P&D
“More bad news.” Throughout my nine-month ordeal with the brain tumor and lymphoma there were few positive developments. Even what we thought were positive developments turned out to be false hopes. My wife and I felt like we were slowly descending into an abyss. I felt like I was slipping down a steep slope to death, which lay at the bottom with its mouth open for me like a yawning chasm. I wanted to stop and get off the ride, but this wasn’t a ride, and I couldn’t stop anything. I had no control.
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