God does not take away a life; but He devises means,
so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him
(2 Samuel 14:14, NKJV).
The Bible is full of wonderful promises, as well as statements that describe God’s character. Second Samuel 14:14 combines both a promise and a description of God’s character, making it one of my favorite verses in all of the Scriptures.
Like me, you’ve no doubt heard people question God at best, curse Him at worst. They question His goodness, His mercy, His love, even His sense of fairness as they look at the evil and pain in the world. I can only assume that those who say (or even think) these things have never truly met our wonderful and faithful God. And here’s why I believe that.
To come into the presence of the Sovereign of the universe, we must first recognize our unworthiness to do so. If we think we can just march up to Him and demand an explanation for something that’s going on in our lives or even in the world, we are sadly mistaken. It is when we take on an attitude of humility and throw ourselves on God’s mercy that He opens His arms to welcome us home. At that point, though all our questions may not suddenly be answered, we become aware of the fact that our failure to understand these things is just that—our failure, not God’s.
If there is one verse in the Bible that will help us keep this in perspective, it is 2 Samuel 14:14. God is not a cruel taskmaster, seeking ways to punish or even destroy us. Though mankind chose to rebel against God and, justly, received the consequences of that choice (death and separation from Him), the faithful One immediately set out to devise a means to restore us to eternal life and to relationship with Him. He did that through the greatest sacrifice ever made in the history of the world: offering up His only Son to pay the price for our rebellion.
We were banished because of our sin, but God Himself has orchestrated our restoration. May we rejoice in that great truth—and pray for ways to extend it to those who have not yet understood it!
AMEN. It honestly helps ease my mind that he has orchestrated our restoration. There are those in my life that I have just recently discovered that the depth of their faith is no where near what I thought it was. I am concerned for their salvation. I’ve tried witnessing to them; other relatives have done the same. Yet they choose to disregard the Holy Spirit and God’s Word. I am continuing to pray for them, but knowing that God has a plan really does relieve me. Thank you for this reminder.
And thank you, Carley, for taking the time to leave a reply. Keep praying!