Quotes from Jerry Bridges

In terms of our trusting God, the sovereignty of God over the nations can at first glance seem theoretical and remote from our daily lives.

In the West, especially, we don't often consciously feel the actions of government impacting our lives from day to day.

wishes" (4:17) and: He

God owes me no explanation. He has the right to do what He wants, when He wants, and how He wants. Why? Because He's God. . .

But the reverent reader of Scripture cannot fail to see the sovereign hand of God arranging those ordinary circumstances to accomplish His purpose.

Christians are viewed unfavorably in much of the world today and in many countries face outright persecution from hostile governments.

Regardless of the nature of the circumstances, we must learn to trust God if we would glorify God in them.

As God's rule is invincible, so it is incomprehensible. His ways are higher than our ways (see Isaiah 55:9). His judgments are unsearchable, and His paths are beyond tracing out (see Romans 11:33). The sovereignty of God is often questioned because man does not understand what God is doing. Because He does not act as we think He should, we conclude He cannot act as we think He would.

So we should never ask why in the sense of demanding that God explain or justify His actions or what He permits in our lives.

Those of us living in countries where religious freedom is allowed should regularly give thanks to God for that freedom.

But what about when the story does not have a happy ending? Is God sovereign then also? This is the crucial question. It's easy to trust God when a process of events turns out as we would desire, though even here our faith often falters during the process until we know the outcome.

In order to trust God we must know Him in an intimate, personal way.

God can and does work in the hearts and minds of rulers and officials of government to accomplish His sovereign purpose.

It is more than just knowing facts about God. It is coming into a deeper personal relationship with Him as a result of seeking Him in the midst of our personal pain and discovering Him to be trustworthy.

A lot of Christians are doing that for God today. Often unwilling to accept the fact that God is working because they don't understand how He is working, they have chosen to substitute the doctrine of chance for the doctrine of divine providence.

For us that is not a particularly striking event, but for a Muslim country to allow a Christian school to remain open when others were closed was indeed unusual.

This Iranian brother had a correct perception of the sovereignty of God in the decrees and decisions of governments.

Just as we saw in chapter 4 that God is sovereign in the hearts of individuals, whose decisions and actions affect us, so God is also sovereign in the decisions and actions of government as they affect

we are to establish our beliefs by the Bible, not by our experiences.

A disposition to trust in ourselves is part of our sinful nature. It sometimes takes a major crisis, or at least a moderate one, to turn us toward the Lord. A mark of Christian maturity is to continually trust the Lord in the minutiae of daily life. If we learn to trust God in the minor adversities, we will be better prepared to trust Him in the major ones.

We cannot separate the history of a nation from the people of that nation.

although we often do not understand God's ways, He is sovereignly at work in all of our circumstances.

Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. (Acts 4:27-28, emphasis

Proverbs 16:9—"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps"—