The instructive lesson to learn, is that there is no blank in the most minute circumstances.

"Word Pictures" for Our Imagination

Free Printable Devotional Sheets Tuesday, July 29th

Today's Daily Verse is found in Proverbs 16.33

" People cast lots to learn God's will, but God himself determines the answer."

Casting lots.

Seems like a strange way of doing business, but is it?

Let's consider what casting of lots was used for...

Officers were chosen... 1 Chronicles 24:5 "All tasks were assigned to the various groups by means of sacred lots so that no preference would be shown, for there were many qualified officials serving God in the sanctuary from among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar."

Work was determined... Luke 1.9 " As was the custom of the priests, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and burn incense."

Dwellings fixed... Nehemiah 11.1 "The leaders of the people were living in Jerusalem, the holy city. A tenth of the people from the other towns of Judah and Benjamin were chosen by sacred lots to live there, too, while the rest stayed where they were."

Discoveries made... 1 Samuel 14.41 "Then Saul prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, please show us who is guilty and who is innocent.” Then they cast sacred lots, and Jonathan and Saul were chosen as the guilty ones, and the people were declared innocent.

Contentions caused to cease... Proverbs 18.18 "If two powerful people are opposing each other in court, casting lots can settle the issue."

Canaan was divided in accord to Jacob's prophecies... Numbers 26.55 " But you must assign the land by lot, and give land to each ancestral tribe according to the number of names on the list. Joshua 18.8 "As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua commanded them, “Go and explore the land and write a description of it. Then return to me, and I will assign the land to the tribes by casting sacred lots here in the presence of the Lord at Shiloh."

Offender brought to justice... Achan's sin Joshua 7.16 "Early the next morning Joshua brought the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Judah was singled out."

No-one doubted these decisions...

• Saul was acknowledged to be King by lot [1 Samuel 10.20-24]
• Matthias was numbered among the apostles by lot [Acts 1.26]
• Haman's lot was cast profanely, but GOD overruled [Esther 3.7 ; 9.1-2]
  

Jonah guilty by the casting of lots...

Jonah 1.5-10

" 5 Fearing for their lives, the desperate sailors shouted to their gods for help and threw the cargo overboard to lighten the ship. And all this time Jonah was sound asleep down in the hold.

6 So the captain went down after him. “What do you mean,” he roared, “sleeping at a time like this? Get up and cry to your god, and see if he will have mercy on us and save us!”

7 Then the crew decided to draw straws to see which of them had offended the gods and caused this terrible storm; and Jonah drew the short one.

8 “What have you done,” they asked, “to bring this awful storm upon us? Who are you? What is your work? What country are you from? What is your nationality?”

9-10 And he said, “I am a Jew; I worship Jehovah, the God of heaven, who made the earth and sea.” Then he told them he was running away from the Lord.

What is this verse beginning to reveal to us?

• Things we see as "chance" are not so
• That we are under the providence of GOD

The overwhelming reality is this truth:

Proverbs 3.6 "In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths."

There is no blank in the most minute circumstances...

Let's look at what we call "circumstances"...

Who directed the Ishmaelites on their journey to Egypt at the very moment Joseph's brothers were casting him into the pit?

Who guided Pharaoh's daughter to the river, just as the ark with the little baby Moses in it passed by the very spot she was at?

Who prepared a whale to be at the very time and place that Jonah was thrown off the boat?

Chance?

No way.

Is there a lot we do not yet understand?

Yes.

But it does give us an accurate perception of GOD as against what we know. He is Omnipotent, and All Powerful, Invisible, and He knows the end from the beginning.

In comparison, we know nothing. That's why the life-line of faith works. We trust in Him, believe in His guidance and wisdom for our lives.

How He does it - we have no clue!

See you tomorrow...

In the meantime:

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