When the chief priests, temple officers, and elders came
to the Garden of Gethsemane
to arrest
Jesus,
they succeeded
only because a
sovereign God
permitted them to succeed.
Jesus pointed out that He was teaching daily in the Temple, yet
they never laid a finger on Him then.
Now they were after Him with swords and staves.
"But this is your hour, and the power of darkness is yours" (Lk 22:53 JBP).
Who gave them that hour?
Who allowed them the power to capture Him?
It was God,
without whose leave not even a
sparrow can fall to the ground.
God is omnipotent,
never slumbering,
just,
righteous, and
forever in control.
He was not taken by
surprise.
All was working then, as it is always working, into a pattern for good.
Our own difficulties often appear to be
Our own difficulties often appear to be
random.
Our tragedies look wildly
uncontrolled.
They are not.
They are subject.
Limits are set.
God is quietly at work,
standing in the shadows,
ceaselessly watching over
His children.
"The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never mastered it" (Jn l:5 NEB).
"The light shines on in the dark, and the darkness has never mastered it" (Jn l:5 NEB).
Elisabeth Elliot, 1926 –
revised
