Better Than Worldly Fame--God's Divine Arrangement

From Look Unto Me:


I have seen slaves on horseback, while princes go on foot like slaves.
Ecclesiastes 10:7

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

Upstarts often arrogantly usurp the most prominent places, while truly great people are often relegated to total obscurity. The reason behind this puzzling situation, still within God's providence, will someday gladden the hearts of the righteous. Yet this situation is such a common fact of life that none of us should complain when it falls to us.

Although our Lord is the "King of kings" (Rev. 17:14) of the earth, He walked earth's paths of weariness and service as the Servant of servants. Is it any wonder then that His followers, who are princes through His blood, should also be looked down upon as inferior and contemptible people? The world is upside down. Therefore, the first are last and the last first. (See Matt. 19:30.)

Just look how the willing sons of Satan lord their position over the earth! What a high horse they ride! How they lift their "horns against heaven" (Ps. 75.5)! Haman is in the king's court, while Mordecai sits outside the king's gate. (See Est. 5:9.) David wanders the wilderness mountains, while King Saul reigns in power. Elijah complains in a desert cave, while Queen Jezebel boasts in her palace.

Yet who of us would wish to trades places with the proud rebels? And who of them, on the other hand, might not envy the despised saints of God? As the wheels of time turn, however, those who are lowest rise and the highest sink. Patience then, dear believer, eternity will right the wrongs of time. So let us not fall to the error of allowing our worldly passions and carnal appetites ride in triumph, while our godly strengths crawl through the dust.

Grace must reign as our prince and make the parts of our bodies instruments of righteousness. The Holy Spirit loves order and therefore sets our various strengths and abilities in their proper place and rank, giving the highest priority and space to those spiritual powers that connect us to our great King.

We should not disturb His divine arrangement but ask for grace that we may "discipline [our bodies] and keep [them] under control" (1 Cor. 9:27 ESV). We were not made "a new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17) in order to allow our passions to rule over us, but that we, as kings, may reign in Christ Jesus over the three-fold kingdom of spirit, soul, and body--to the glory of God the Father.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

This world is indeed upside down, and often the things of God seem counterintuitive. Yet remember His words, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isa. 55:9). His ways will not always make sense to us, but keep in mind, "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom" (1 Cor. 1:25).

Therefore, it comes down to a matter of trusting Him, even when we may not have full understanding. It is also a matter of trusting His Word, which says, "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just" (Deut. 32:4).

"Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I" (Ps. 61:1-2).

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