Which other scriptures affirm God's control over creation and life's circumstances? Set the Lens: Ecclesiastes 7:13 “Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?” Solomon invites us to pause and notice that the shaping, bending, and straightening of every part of creation—and every circumstance we meet—rests safely in God’s capable hands. God’s Sovereign Hand in Creation • Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” • Psalm 33:6, 9 – “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made… For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood fast.” • Psalm 135:6 – “The LORD does whatever pleases Him in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all their depths.” • Isaiah 45:7 – “I form the light and create darkness; I bring prosperity and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.” • Colossians 1:16-17 – “For in Him all things were created… all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” • Hebrews 1:3 – “He upholds all things by His powerful word.” God Directs the Course of Nations and Kings • Daniel 4:35 – “He does as He pleases with the host of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” • Proverbs 21:1 – “A king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He directs it wherever He chooses.” • Acts 17:26 – “He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their land.” • Psalm 103:19 – “The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.” God Guides Individual Lives and Daily Details • Psalm 139:16 – “All my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.” • Proverbs 16:9 – “A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.” • Proverbs 19:21 – “Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.” • Matthew 10:29-31 – “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father… So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” • James 4:13-15 – “You do not even know what tomorrow will bring… Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” Sovereignty Shown in Christ • John 19:10-11 – Pilate threatens Jesus; Jesus answers, “You would have no authority over Me if it were not given to you from above.” • Ephesians 1:11 – “In Him we were also chosen… according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will.” • Romans 8:28 – “We know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.” Resting in His Control • Job 42:2 – “I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” • Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Because every molecule, monarch, and moment is under His sovereign rule, Ecclesiastes 7:13 calls us to consider and then bow in trust: what He bends, no one can straighten—yet the very hands that bend also lovingly hold us. |
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