Peace! I write this for your peace. I write this for your solace. Happiness is under this rock. But, first I must pose the question to motivate you to turn over the rock:
Part 8 – Who Done it?
“Who Done It?.” Many are asking this question. Is it the Chinese, animals, a conspiracy? Did God do it?
Don’t let the people who do not know their Bibles deceive you. Don’t listen to the people who trust in riches, in princes, in policies, in philosophies, in governments in conspiracies and in themselves lead you astray. (Ps 146:3)
Let’s be clear. Lay it down forever and don’t ask again. The Bible tells you who did it. God did it. Yes, God did it. Unequivocally, unashamedly, unstoppably.
Conspiracies What about conspirators and conspiracies? Let God’s instruction to Isaiah clear the record. In Isaiah 8:11-22, God instructed him, not softly, but “with a strong hand,” to stop talking about conspiracies because that’s the way everyone else talks. They are wrong. God told him that he ”should not walk in the way of this people, saying: “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy,’ Concerning all that this people call a conspiracy, Nor be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” (Isa. 8:12).
Calamities There are local, national and global calamities that surface from time to time. They come in different packages – shortages, plagues, fires, droughts, attacks… They may even hit someone in your family. The prophet Amos affirms this, “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?” (Amos 3:6). God tells the prophet Isaiah, “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.' (Isa 45:7). I preached a sermon on this several years ago. I said this, “When He wants to create calamity you get calamity…”
Politics In Isaiah 45:6-7 God is illustrating how He is bringing in a pagan king do His work. He makes it clear that He is different compared to the dumb idols. He is informing His people that He is going to raise up Cyrus. He is in control of the politics and he moves the movers and shakers around. They think they are the movers and shakers. Actually, they are being moved and shaken. His point is that He is God like no other.
In Psalm 146:3–5, David warns of trusting in people.
Loss: The main exhibit for this is Job. He lost everything – His entire family, his business, his buildings, his health, and his friends. He tells his wife, God did it, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10). Notice the adversity came “from the Lord.”
Weather: After Jesus calmed the storm, His disciples rightly said, “Even the winds and the waves obey Him” (Matt 8:23-27). This is not a new concept. In Psalm 89:9, David says, “you rule the raging sea.” (See Ps 65:7, Ps 29:10, Ps. 107:29-30, Ps 46:1-5).
Your only hope to accurately interpret the present calamity is to know something deep in your heart: “I am God and there is no other.” Here is a sermon on Isaiah 45 I preached that illustrates this.
Isaiah is constantly illustrating that the Lord reigns – from beginning to end, and every detail in between.
What shall we say?
Don’t panic.
Stay calm.
You have all the information you need right now.
God is in control.
He done it!