Latest / Reformed Thinking / Providence: To Know, Bow, and Rejoice That the Most High Rules

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Providence: To Know, Bow, and Rejoice That the Most High Rules · Reformed Thinking

• 0:00
  Think about the exhilarating rush of feeling entirely in
• 0:04
  control of your destiny. Oh yeah, that is a very human
• 0:08
  feeling. You know that sensation, right?
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  Like your plans are working out, your bank account looks secure.
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  Maybe your career is moving up. Right, And you feel like the
• 0:15
  undisputed captain of your own ship.
• 0:17
  Yeah, it is a massive thrill. But well, here's the thing we're
• 0:21
  looking at today. That illusion of total autonomy
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  is it is comparable to the thrill of skydiving without a
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  parachute. Man, that is a staggering image,
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  right? But it captures the situation
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  perfectly I think. Because while you are in
• 0:38
  freefall, you know the wind is in your face and the adrenaline
• 0:42
  is rushing. Yeah, it feels like total
• 0:43
  unrestricted freedom. You just feel weightless.
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  Exactly. Wait, I mean spot on.
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  It is a temporary rush though. It is this fleeting sensation
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  that completely masks an impending, disastrous collision
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  with reality. Because the ground is coming.
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  The ground is coming fast, whether you acknowledge it or
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  not, so welcome to reformed thinking.
• 1:01
  Glad to be here for this. Today, our goal for this deep
• 1:04
  dive into the source material is while we are examining the
• 1:08
  doctrine of Divine Providence through the striking events of
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  Daniel chapter 4. It is such a wild chapter.
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  It really is. We are going straight into the
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  historical sources to dismantle this dangerous illusion of human
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  autonomy. Right.
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  And to reveal the sanity restoring reality of God's
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  absolute holy dominion. And as we unpack these ancient
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  texts, we are looking through a very specific theological lens
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  today. Yeah, we are grounding this
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  analysis firmly in reformed theology.
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  Right, and the historic confessions of the Protestant
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  faith. Typically the Westminster
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  Confession. That is our framework here.
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  So when we talk about God's absolute decree over all earthly
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  affairs, we need to clarify something.
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  We are not talking about some cold mechanical.
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  Faith. Oh, definitely not.
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  We are not talking about a distant clockmaker who just, you
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  know, wound up the universe and walked away.
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  No, we are looking at a vibrant, indestructible fabric
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  orchestrated by a personal God. Yeah, he works all things
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  according to the counsel of his will.
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  Right for His own glory and for the good of his people.
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  I think it is great you clarify that right off the bat.
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  Yeah, the idea of total divine control can sound super
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  intimidating if you strip the personal nature of God out of
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  it. It really can.
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  But to understand the sheer shock of what happens in Daniel
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  chapter 4, I mean to grasp the magnitude of King Nebuchadnezzar
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  losing his mind, we first have to recognize the historical
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  stage. We have to set the scene, yeah.
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  What did the world look like during the Babylonian exile?
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  Well, we are looking at a particularly dark and terrifying
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  era for the Jewish people. Terrifying is probably an
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  understatement. Oh for sure, they have been
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  carried away from Jerusalem as captives, right?
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  Their temple, which was the center of their worship and
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  national identity, has been completely destroyed.
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  Just leveled. Yeah, leveled.
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  So they are living as exiles in a foreign land, and they are
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  staring up at an empire that seems utterly invincible.
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  Because Babylon was not just another city, no.
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  It was the center of the known world at that time.
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  I mean, it boasted these massive walls that historians say were
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  thick enough to race Chariots upon.
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  Yeah, Chariots racing on the walls.
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  It is crazy. You have the Hanging Gardens,
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  towering ziggurats, all that stuff.
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  And those brilliant blue glazed bricks of the Ishtar Gate.
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  Right. And a military machine that had
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  crushed literally everything in its path.
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  So to the naked eye, the covenant promises God made to
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  Israel looked completely pulverized under Babylonian
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  boots. Yeah, if you were the average
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  person living there, you would look around and conclude that
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  the gods of Babylon had definitively triumphed over the
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  God of Israel. Which makes the actual text of
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  Daniel chapter 4 so fascinating. And honestly, a bit jarring.
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  Yeah, I was reading through the source material and there is
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  this massive shift in perspective that totally caught
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  me off guard. The shift from 3rd to 1st
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  person, right? Yes.
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  The Book of Daniel is mostly a narrative about Daniel and his
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  friends, but suddenly chapter 4 reads like a royal decree
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  written by the Pagan king himself.
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  It switches to the first person Nebuchadnezzar is speaking.
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  So why does the text do that? Is there a specific reason we
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  are getting this story from the King's own pen?
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  Oh, the choice of perspective is a stroke of rhetorical
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  brilliance, really. How?
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  So, well, this is not a private diary entry found hidden in some
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  dusty royal archive centuries later.
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  OK, this chapter opens as an imperial decree sent out to all
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  peoples, nations and languages. Oh wow, think about the gravity
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  of that. Right.
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  The very monarch who once exalted his own majesty, the guy
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  who conquered Jerusalem, now functions as the chief herald of
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  God's absolute supremacy. That is wild.
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  God did not just defeat a proud king from afar, no.
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  He did not just send an opposing army to conquer Babylon, he
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  seized the king internally. He humbled him, broke his pride
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  and compelled a public confession.
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  A confession of divine righteousness straight from the
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  King's own lips. So the most feared man on earth
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  was forced to publish an open letter to the entire globe?
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  Yeah. Stating that the God of Israel
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  is the true King. That is an ancient public
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  relations nightmare for the Babylonian Empire.
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  Oh. Totally, but a massive
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  encouragement for the Exiles. Right.
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  And think about the relevance of that for you, the listener
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  today. The original audience of Daniel
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  needed an exile Survival kit, basically.
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  Because they lived under a hostile culture.
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  Yeah, and overwhelming earthly authorities, but that is the
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  same Survival kit you need right now.
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  For sure, when you feel marginalized today, or when the
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  culture around you seems entirely opposed to the
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  Christian faith, you might feel the urge to panic.
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  Yeah, you might think you need some new innovative strategy to
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  survive all this. But the text is saying you
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  actually need a firm grasp on Providence.
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  You need to know that the Most High rules the Kingdom of men.
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  That is the anchor. But that leads to a huge
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  question. How did the most secure,
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  accomplished man on earth lose his mind and his humanity in an
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  instant? We need to look at the anatomy
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  of his dost. Yeah, the scene leading up to
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  his downfall is chilling because it is so incredibly common.
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  He is pacing the roof of his royal palace.
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  Right, right. Nebuchadnezzar is looking out
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  over the massive, sprawling city of Babylon.
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  The city he poured massive resources into expanding and
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  fortifying. And he utters the core boast of
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  all fallen humanity. He says, Is not this great
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  Babylon which I have built by my mighty strength as a royal
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  residence and for the glory of my majesty?
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  He takes total unadulterated credit for what God alone
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  provided. It is the ultimate expression of
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  human autonomy. It really reminds me of like a
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  modern day tech CEO. Oh.
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  That is a good comparison. Right pacing the top floor of a
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  glass skyscraper in Silicon Valley, looking down at a
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  sprawling corporate campus. Thinking I built this empire
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  with my own intellect. Yeah, but looking at this
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  through a reformed lens, pride is much more sinister than just
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  having an inflated ego, right? Oh, absolute.
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  It is not just someone being a bit too confident in their
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  management skills, it is framed as an act of high treason.
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  It is the perfect way to describe it.
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  Treason because. Pride is the creature attempting
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  to dethrone the creator. Yes, it is an individual
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  preferring the man in the mirror over the glory of the Most High.
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  It is a literal theft of divine glory.
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  In Reformed theology, we understand from the Westminster
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  Shorter Catechism that man's chief end is to glorify God and
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  enjoy him forever. That is our basic design.
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  Right. So when Nebuchadnezzar looks at
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  his Kingdom and says I did this for my glory, he is structurally
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  violating the purpose of his own existence.
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  He is rebelling against the fundamental design of the
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  universe. He really is.
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  I want to try and visualize what you are saying about human
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  kingship and pride. Let's hear it.
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  Think of Nebuchadnezzar's view of his empire like a massive
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  complex Jenga tower. OK, a Jenga tower.
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  I like that. He believes he is the top piece.
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  He thinks he is elevated above everything else because of his
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  own structural integrity and balance.
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  Right, he thinks. His own strength holds him up
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  there. But he fails to realize that God
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  is the actual table underneath the entire tower.
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  Oh, that is good. If God simply removes his
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  sustaining hand, or you know, pulls the table away, the top
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  pieces so-called elevation means absolutely nothing.
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  The. Whole thing crashes instantly.
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  And the judgement for that treason in the text is sudden
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  and shocking. It happens so fast.
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  The text says that while the words were still in the King's
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  mouth, a voice falls from heaven and his royal authority is
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  stripped away. He is driven from among young
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  men to eat grass like an ox. His body is drenched with the
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  dew of heaven. The text says his hair grows as
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  long as eagle's feathers and his nails become like bird's claws.
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  He literally loses his mind. And you know, the condition
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  described there is a recognized psychological phenomenon.
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  Oh really? There is a name for it.
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  Yeah, it is sometimes referred to as belanthropy or
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  lycanthropy, where a human being genuinely believes they are an
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  animal and begins to act like 1. That is terrifying.
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  It is, but beyond the psychological diagnosis, there
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  is a massive theological reality here, which is the King's
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  descent into a beast like state proves that the concept of
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  autonomy is a complete lie. The very nature of his being is
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  altered, right? Rejecting God's rule does not
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  make a person freer or more noble.
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  It does not elevate you to a higher state of existence.
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  No, it strips away your distinct humanity.
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  So to live without submission to the creator is to descend into
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  the animality of the field. Exactly.
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  Yeah. I mean, yes, humans are unique
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  because we are made in the image of God.
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  Right, designed with the capacity to know him, worship
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  him, and reflect his character. So when we sever that connection
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  through pride, we do not become gods, we become beasts.
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  We lose the very thing that makes us human.
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  We really do. I see what you're saying.
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  Let's go to a smartphone analogy to ground this, OK?
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  Think of human autonomy like a smartphone deciding it no longer
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  wants to connect to a cellular network or Wi-Fi.
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  It just wants to operate on its own.
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  Yeah, it wants to be completely independent from the system it
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  was built to operate within, right?
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  It might feel free from the network, but it has instantly
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  lost its core function. It cannot make calls, access
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  data, or communicate. It just becomes a useless,
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  expensive block of glass. It can no longer do what it was
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  designed to do. That analogy holds up well.
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  So when Nebuchadnezzar disconnected from the reality of
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  God's rule, his mind just shut down.
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  A disconnected phone loses its purpose, just as a disconnected
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  human loses their rational faculties.
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  But the narrative takes a fascinating turn here.
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  It does because the judgement, as severe as it was, was not
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  aimless destruction. God did not just strike
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  Nebuchadnezzar dead on the roof of his palace.
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  No, he left him in that animalistic state for a specific
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  period. The text calls it 7 periods of
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  time, right? And God's purpose in that was
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  restoration. Which brings up the question,
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  how does a beast become a man again?
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  Yeah, what does this text teach us about true sanity?
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  There is a very specific turning point in the text that breaks
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  the curse. Yes, I noticed that too when
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  looking at the sources. The text says at the end of the
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  days I, Nebuchadnezzar lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason
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  returned to me. It is such a simple physical
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  action, lifting his eyes. But it changes everything, and
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  the phrasing there feels very specific.
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  The text says his reason return. It does not just say he stopped
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  eating grass. Right.
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  Why does the text focus on his reason returning?
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  Is there something deeper going on in the original language?
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  Oh there absolutely is the Aramaic word used for reason.
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  There is Mandanda. OK, Yeah.
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  And in this specific context, true reason is intrinsically
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  tied to God exultation. So mental clarity and sanity are
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  fully restored only when the mind is oriented back to
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  objective reality. Yes, an objective reality is
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  that God is on the throne and you are not.
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  Acknowledging the everlasting dominion of the Most High is the
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  very definition of sanity. Therefore, claiming autonomy is
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  quite literally madness. You are living in a delusion.
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  You are hallucinating a reality where you are supreme, and that
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  hallucination drives you live in a way that contradicts your
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  design. So looking up to heaven was the
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  outward physical expression of an inward spiritual submission.
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  That makes total sense. And it connects perfectly to the
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  concept of joy. How so?
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  Well, God's goal in this whole severe ordeal was not just to
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  force a reluctant concession of defeat from the King.
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  Right, he wasn't just bullying him into submission.
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  Exactly. Yeah, I do not think God, God
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  wanted Nebuchadnezzar to just cross his arms, pout and say
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  fine, you win. You have more raw power than me.
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  The goal was worship. Yeah, it brings to mind a
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  concept from CS Lewis regarding praise.
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  Oh, the bit about how we naturally praise what we enjoy.
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  Yes. Louis pointed out that we
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  naturally praise what we enjoy. We praise a good book, a
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  beautiful sunset, a great meal, right?
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  Praise is not something God demands because he is insecure
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  and needs validation. No.
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  Praise completes our enjoyment of the thing itself.
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  Right. We do not fully enjoy a great
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  movie until we turn to our friend and say that was
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  incredible. That is a highly perceptive
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  connection. God humbles the proud not just
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  to cast them down, but to bring them to a state where they can
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  experience true joy. Joy and submission are
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  permanently linked. You cannot experience true human
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  gladness while trying to steal God's glory.
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  So when Nebuchadnezzar's reason returns, the very next thing he
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  does is bless the Most High. He praises and honors him who
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  lives forever. His mind is healed and
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  immediately worship flows out. He is finally experiencing the
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  joy he was created for. A joy that his arrogant building
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  projects in Babylon could never provide.
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  He traded the illusion of control for the joy of worship.
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  OK, so acknowledging that God rules everything brings sanity
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  and joy. That is clear on a personal
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  level for the King. Yes, it is.
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  But we have to tackle the massive theological tension this
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  raises when we look at the wider world.
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  Oh, the big question. Yeah, we are talking about God's
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  absolute Providence over all things, right?
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  How do we reconcile God's absolute total control with the
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  immense suffering and dark events in human history?
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  Because if God is orchestrating everything, it brings up some
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  very difficult, unavoidable questions.
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  It really does. Nebuchadnezzar's final
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  confession, though, provides the framework for how we approach
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  this tension. It does.
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  After his reason returns, he states that all God's works are
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  right and his ways are just. In the original Aramaic, those
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  words are keyshot and din. Keyshot and Din, yes.
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  These are rare, heavy words. They indicate perfect alignment
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  with the ultimate standard of the universe.
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  And what is that ultimate standard?
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  It is God himself. God's actions are always
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  perfectly consistent with His own holy, pure character.
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  He never acts outside of perfect righteousness.
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  I understand the definitions, but I have to push back here on
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  behalf of the listener. Sure, go ahead, because the
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  practical application of this is tough.
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  It is very tough. If God's Providence actively
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  ordains, limits and directs everything, and we are
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  explicitly saying he removes kings and sets up kings, then he
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  is ordaining the rise of wicked, oppressive rulers.
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  He ordained the rise of Nero, who burned Christians in Rome.
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  Yes, he did He. Ordains modern dictators who
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  cause immense suffering, famine and war today.
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  It is a heavy reality to sit with.
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  So if we hold to this Reformed view of Providence, how do we
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  avoid the conclusion that God is the author of evil?
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  That is the most rigorous and necessary question we can ask.
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  It is the elephant in the room. It is, and the Reformed
• 15:47
  tradition provides a highly robust answer, particularly
• 15:50
  articulated in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
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  Right, let's look at what that says.
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  The Confession teaches that God from all eternity did, by the
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  most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely and
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  unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass.
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  OK, that is the total control part.
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  But it immediately as a crucial non negotiable qualification,
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  which is it says he does so in such way that God is neither the
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  author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the
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  creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes
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  taken away, but rather established.
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  Let's unpack that carefully, because second causes sounds a
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  bit academic to modern ears. Yeah, I can sound pretty dry.
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  How does that actually work in reality?
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  Think of it in terms of primary and secondary causes.
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  OK, primary and secondary. God is the primary cause of all
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  things, but He uses secondary causes like human choices or
• 16:41
  natural laws to accomplish His will.
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  So the secondary causes act according to their own nature.
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  Yes, a wicked ruler acts out of his own genuine wickedness,
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  greed, and pride. God does not force him to be
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  evil. But God, in his infinite wisdom,
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  orchestrates those evil choices with an immeasurably vast webs
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  of causes and effects to achieve perfect holy ends.
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  Think of the sun shining on a dead animal.
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  A dead animal. OK, I am listening.
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  The heat of the sun causes the carcass to emit a terrible
• 17:12
  stench. Right, it speeds up the decay.
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  But the sun itself is pure light and heat.
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  It contains no foul odor. That is a great visual.
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  The stench comes from the nature of the dead animal reacting to
• 17:24
  the sun. Similarly, God's sovereign
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  decree interacts with fallen human nature, and the resulting
• 17:29
  evil belongs entirely to the human actor.
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  But the sovereign direction of that event belongs to God.
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  That analogy helps a lot. The human actor is fully
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  responsible for the evil they commit.
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  Yes, they are. God can use a wicked rulers evil
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  intentions to discipline a nation, to refine his church, or
• 17:47
  to set the stage for a greater display of His grace later in
• 17:50
  history. So.
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  Going back to Nebuchadnezzar. Right.
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  If God allowed his human pride to just go completely unchecked
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  forever, if He never intervened against this wicked ruler, He
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  would actually be denying his own infinite worth.
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  He would be letting a lie stand unchallenged in the universe.
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  Precisely. God opposes the proud out of
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  both justice and steadfast love. He opposes them out of justice
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  because their pride is a theft of His glory.
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  But he also opposes them out of love.
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  Right to shock us into a wakeful reality.
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  If God let Nebuchadnezzar just continue in his arrogance until
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  the day he died, Nebuchadnezzar would have perished in his
• 18:24
  delusion. He would have died thinking he
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  was a God. So the judgement of the beast
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  like state was a severe mercy. It broke his pride so that his
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  mind could be restored and he could find true life in
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  submitting to the real king. That brings us to a fascinating
• 18:39
  parallel. Yes it does.
• 18:41
  Nebuchadnezzar's story does not just end with his personal
• 18:43
  restoration. No, this ancient narrative acts
• 18:46
  as a shadow, pointing toward a much greater reality.
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  It displays God's counter intuitive method of showing
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  mercy and sets the stage for the true King.
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  Let's look at the shadow of the true king in this text.
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  How does the king of Babylon compare to Jesus Christ?
• 19:02
  The contrast between the King of Babylon and Jesus Christ is
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  breathtaking when you look at their trajectories.
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  In Nebuchadnezzar we see a king who grasp for glory in sinful
• 19:12
  self assertion. He looked at what he had
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  declared himself supreme and tried to elevate himself to the
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  place of God. And because he grasped upward in
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  pride, he was cast violently downward into the dirt.
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  Literally eating grass. While Jesus Christ is the exact
• 19:29
  inverse of that trajectory. The Apostle Paul lays this out
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  beautifully in Philippians chapter 2.
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  Christ possessed all divine glory from eternity past, He was
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  God. Yet he did not count equality
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  with God a thing to be grasped or held on to for his own
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  advantage. Instead, he stooped downward.
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  He willingly took the lowest position, taking the form of a
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  bond slave, and submitted himself to suffering on a Roman
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  cross. The trajectories are perfectly
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  inverted. The king of Babylon exalts
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  himself and is humbled by God. The King of Glory humbles
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  himself, and because of that perfect submission, He is highly
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  exalted by the Father. God gave Christ the name that is
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  above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should
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  bow. I want to use a different
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  analogy here to contrast these two types of kingship because
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  the modern world still operates on the Babylon model.
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  Oh, very much. Think about how the corporate
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  world or the political arena works.
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  It is a constant scramble to the top.
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  It is a ladder where you climb ruthlessly over everyone else.
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  Yeah, you step on hands and heads to elevate yourself,
• 20:32
  grabbing for power, wealth or status.
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  Just clawing your way up. But the Babylon model is flawed
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  because when you finally get to the top, you realize the bottom
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  of your ladder is resting on nothing but thin air.
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  It is completely unstable. Right.
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  And doomed to collapse the moment God decides your time is
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  up. But kingship works differently.
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  He climbs down into the darkest depths of human suffering,
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  taking the lowest place possible to serve and to save.
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  And because of that perfect obedience, the Father takes that
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  entire downward ladder and lifts it up to the highest heaven.
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  That analogy really captures the essence of Christ's incarnation
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  and exaltation. And we must tie this directly
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  into the theological mechanics of what Christ accomplished on
• 21:16
  the cross. We need to talk about
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  propitiation and atonement. When we look at the cross, we
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  are looking at the ultimate, unmatched display of God's
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  Providence in history. Hold on, let's define those
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  terms for the listener. Which ones?
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  Propitiation is a heavy theological word that does not
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  get used in daily conversation. Oh right, that is a fairpoint.
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  What does that actually mean in the context of Christo's death?
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  Put simply, propitiation means a sacrifice that averts God's holy
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  wrath and satisfies his perfect justice.
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  OK, satisfying justice. God's righteousness demands that
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  the belittling of His glory be punished.
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  Sin is an infinite offense because it is an offense against
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  an infinitely glorious God. We talked earlier about pride
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  being treason. Treason against the King of the
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  Universe carries a massive penalty.
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  Atonement is the work Christ did to pay that penalty, bridging
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  the gap between a holy God and sinful humanity.
• 22:10
  He stood in the place of sinners, taking the punishment
• 22:13
  they deserved. Right, so that God's wrath is
• 22:15
  satisfied and his grace can flow freely to those who believe.
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  So the death of Christ at the hands of wicked men like Pilate
• 22:22
  and Herod was not an accident, Not at all.
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  It was not a failure of divine rule where things just spun out
• 22:28
  of control for a weekend in Jerusalem.
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  Far from it. The cross was the highest, most
• 22:33
  complex expression of God's sovereign rule over secondary
• 22:36
  causes. The early church understood this
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  perfectly. In Acts chapter 4, they prayed,
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  acknowledging that Herod and Pilate, along with the Gentiles
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  and the peoples of Israel, did whatever God's hand and God's
• 22:48
  plan had predestined to take place.
• 22:51
  They committed murder, which was evil, yet God ordained it for
• 22:54
  the salvation of the world. The Father entrusted the Kingdom
• 22:57
  to the Son, making Christ's humiliation and substitutionary
• 23:01
  death the precise mechanism for achieving the highest
• 23:04
  exaltation. God judged sin fully in the
• 23:07
  person of Christ, maintaining His perfect justice while
• 23:10
  simultaneously showing unparalleled mercy to sinners.
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  That is the core of the gospel. And grasping that reality
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  changes everything about how we view the world today.
• 23:19
  It moves theology from the academic realm right into the
• 23:22
  living room. Let's talk about exile survival.
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  OK, let's look at living under Providence.
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  Today, how does an ancient imperial decree about a humbled
• 23:29
  Babylonian king actually change the way you interact with your
• 23:33
  job, your government, and your daily anxieties this very week?
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  We need to look at the how, not just the what.
• 23:39
  The practical applications are immensely valuable and totally
• 23:43
  alter how we function daily. The first application for the
• 23:46
  believer today is walking in genuine humility.
• 23:49
  If the Most High rules the Kingdom of men and gives it to
• 23:53
  whomever He chooses, then we must absolutely reject the urge
• 23:57
  to boast. Give me a real world scenario
• 24:00
  for that. How does that play out on a
• 24:01
  Tuesday morning at the office? Well, imagine you just secured a
• 24:05
  massive promotion at work. OK.
• 24:07
  Or your small business finally took off after years of
• 24:10
  struggle. The natural Babylonian instinct
• 24:12
  is to look at your bank account and say, I grounded out.
• 24:16
  I worked 80 hour weeks. I outsmarted my competitors.
• 24:20
  I built this. But a robust belief in
• 24:22
  Providence intercepts that thought.
• 24:24
  You realize that God gave you the intellect to solve those
• 24:27
  problems. God gave you the physical health
• 24:29
  to work those hours. God orchestrated the market
• 24:31
  conditions that favored your business.
• 24:33
  It kills boasting because you realize you are a recipient of
• 24:37
  grace, not a self-made Titan. As the Apostle Paul says, what
• 24:41
  do you have that you did not receive?
• 24:44
  If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not
• 24:46
  receive it? That shifts your entire posture
• 24:49
  from arrogance to gratitude. The second application we need
• 24:52
  to unpack is holding on to confidence over fear.
• 24:56
  Especially regarding the political climate, it is so easy
• 24:58
  to watch the news and feel a sense of rising panic.
• 25:01
  It is incredibly easy to panic, but consider the logic here.
• 25:04
  OK, if God holds the breath of the mightiest Babylonian king in
• 25:08
  his hand. If he can turn a global
• 25:10
  conqueror like Nebuchadnezzar into a beast in a fraction of a
• 25:13
  second and restore him just as fast.
• 25:16
  Then believers do not need to panic over political
• 25:18
  developments today. We do not need to lose our minds
• 25:21
  over hostile legislation, bizarre cultural shifts or
• 25:24
  controversial elections. We do not place our hope in
• 25:27
  political saviors, nor do we despair when politicians act
• 25:30
  corruptly. Christ is currently Lord over
• 25:32
  parliaments, supreme courts and voting booths.
• 25:35
  I think we often act like history has slipped out of God's
• 25:38
  fingers when our preferred candidate loses.
• 25:40
  We act as if God is up in heaven, wringing his hands,
• 25:44
  wondering how he's going to fix the mess.
• 25:47
  But understanding Providence means knowing the script has
• 25:49
  already been written by a good and holy author.
• 25:52
  That leads right into the third application, choosing worship
• 25:55
  over murmuring. This might be the hardest one.
• 25:57
  A firm grip on Providence allows believers to worship through
• 26:01
  tears. It is the hardest one because it
• 26:03
  involves deep emotional pain. It is one thing to trust God
• 26:08
  when you get the promotion. It is entirely different to
• 26:11
  trust Him when you receive a devastating medical diagnosis.
• 26:15
  Or experience a sudden financial collapse.
• 26:17
  Or face the tragic loss of a loved one.
• 26:20
  But the doctrine of Providence means you can stand in the
• 26:22
  middle of a cemetery and still worship.
• 26:24
  You are not faking happiness, You are.
• 26:26
  Grieving, but you worship because you know that the judge
• 26:29
  of all the earth always does right.
• 26:31
  You know his ways are Cree shot and dim.
• 26:33
  Perfectly right and just. Even when the secondary causes
• 26:36
  bring immense sorrow. You realize that the pain is not
• 26:40
  arbitrary. It is not a glitch in the
• 26:42
  system. It is part of a larger holy
• 26:44
  design that we might not fully understand until eternity.
• 26:48
  And that brings us to the 4th application, perseverance.
• 26:51
  How does Providence help the listener keep going when life
• 26:54
  feels mundane or uselessly difficult?
• 26:57
  The assurance that earthly Thrones, governments and hostile
• 27:00
  cultures are temporary while Christ's reign is everlasting
• 27:04
  gives us the fuel we need for patient obedience in dark or
• 27:07
  boring places. You can keep doing the right
• 27:09
  thing day after day without seeing immediate flashy results.
• 27:13
  You can faithfully change diapers at 30 AM.
• 27:16
  You can cheerfully do the dishes.
• 27:17
  You can act with integrity at a job where your boss takes the
• 27:20
  credit. Because you know the final
• 27:22
  outcome of history is totally secure.
• 27:24
  Your obscure obedience is seen and valued by the king who
• 27:28
  governs the cosmos. It's the ultimate antidote to
• 27:31
  burnout. You are freed from the burden of
• 27:33
  trying to manage the universe. To synthesize all of this,
• 27:37
  trusting the broad sweep of God's rule over nations means
• 27:40
  you can also trust him with the intricate details of your own
• 27:44
  individual life. The God who manages the rise and
• 27:47
  fall of empires, who dictates the borders of nations, is the
• 27:52
  exact same God who is orchestrating the seemingly
• 27:55
  minor details of your Tuesday afternoon.
• 27:58
  He does not just manage the macro level events.
• 28:00
  He is intimately involved in the micro level details of your
• 28:04
  existence which. Brings our conversation full
• 28:06
  circle. True human dignity is found only
• 28:09
  when we cease trying to be supreme in our own estimation.
• 28:13
  As long as you are trying to be the king of your own life,
• 28:15
  building your own little Babylon, you are walking toward
• 28:18
  madness. You are fighting against
• 28:20
  reality. True joy and true humanity are
• 28:24
  found when we find our satisfaction entirely in the
• 28:27
  glory of the Creator. We were made to reflect His
• 28:30
  glory, not to steal it. The creature finds total lasting
• 28:34
  rest only when submitted to the creator's design.
• 28:37
  Autonomy is a crushing burden. Submission to a good king is
• 28:40
  freedom. So as we wrap up this deep dive,
• 28:42
  I want to leave you with a final thought to ponder long after the
• 28:45
  audio stops. Think about that feeling of
• 28:47
  freefall from the beginning of our discussion.
• 28:49
  The exhilaration of skydiving without a parachute.
• 28:52
  We know how that ends. The ground always wins.
• 28:55
  So ask yourself this. If losing the illusion of
• 28:57
  control is the absolute prerequisite for gaining true
• 29:01
  sanity and joy, what specific area of your life are you
• 29:05
  currently driving yourself mad trying to rule on your own?
• 29:09
  Is it your career? Your children's future?
• 29:12
  Your reputation. That is the sobering question we
• 29:15
  all must face daily. Where are we acting like
• 29:17
  Nebuchadnezzar on the roof? It is a question that sticks
• 29:20
  with you. Thank you for listening to this
• 29:21
  deep examination of these sources with us on reformed
• 29:24
  thinking. It has been a great discussion.
• 29:26
  Take that question with you this week, drop the illusion of
• 29:28
  control, and we will catch you next time.