Trust God to Do it His Way
Introduction
I sometimes wish I kept more of a diary. I am glad that, at least, I have recorded some of my prayers. Alongside the words of today’s passage, ‘We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you’ (2 Chronicles 20:12), I have jotted down some of the seemingly insurmountable problems and situations we have faced over the years. It is amazing and wonderful to see and have a record of how God has delivered us from so many of them, in his own time and in his own way.
Being reminded of God’s ability to deliver us increases our faith that he can do it again. God really is powerful. In fact, God is all-powerful; he is ‘omnipotent’. You can trust him.
Psalm 102:12–17
12 But you, LORD, sit enthroned for ever;
your renown endures through all generations.
13 You will arise and have compassion on Zion…
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear the name of the LORD,
all the kings of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the LORD will rebuild Zion
and appear in his glory.
17 He will respond to the prayer of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
Commentary
Trust God to answer prayer
‘Prayer is the slender nerve that moves the muscle of omnipotence,’ as Charles Spurgeon famously said.
When you see the problems in your life and in your nation, what is your first response? As the psalmist looks out at the mess that the people of God are in and the fact that his city is in ruins, his first response is to cry out to God.
The psalmist extols God for both his power and his love, declaring his greatness – ‘You, O LORD, sit enthroned forever’ (v.12a) and his ‘compassion’ (v.13) for Jerusalem: ‘For her stones are dear to your servants; her very dust moves them to pity’ (v.14).
As I look around our nation today, I see that so much of the church is in ruins. But God has the power to rebuild his people in this land.
You can be confident in the power of God to answer your prayers. It is not that you can control God’s power by your prayers, but that God is always active in the life of his people and his world: ‘He attends to the prayer of the wretched. He won’t dismiss their prayer’ (v.17, MSG).
Prayer
Lord, I cry out to you to rebuild the church in this nation. Please send your Holy Spirit upon us again and on our nation, I pray.
1 Corinthians 15:35–49
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendour of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendour of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendour, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendour.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly man.
Commentary
Trust God to resurrect
The loss of someone we love is very painful. And facing our own death can seem frightening. This passage gives us a new perspective on our grief and our fears. When the New Testament speaks of the love of God it usually points to the cross of Jesus. When it speaks of the power of God it usually points to the resurrection of Jesus. It was ‘his incomparably great power’ that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:19–20).
Here the apostle Paul speaks of how that same power will raise your body also. He uses the analogy of a seed of wheat. It does not reach its full potential unless it first dies and is buried: ‘What you sow does not come to life unless it dies’ (1 Corinthians 15:36). There is continuity between the seed and the wheat, although the two look quite different.
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, you can trust that God will also raise you – in his own way – and that will be far better than anything you can imagine.
To the sceptic who asks, ‘What does this ‘resurrection body’ look like?’ he replies, ‘If you look at this question closely, you realise how absurd it is… We do have a parallel experience in gardening. You plant a ‘dead’ seed; soon there is a flourishing plant… The dead body that we bury in the ground and the resurrection body that comes from it will be dramatically different’ (vv.35–38, MSG).
He points to the huge variety of God’s creation, which, incidentally, suggests you should not try to be like anyone else. God made you uniquely you. It is all right to be different. Diversity is good.
You will notice that the variety of bodies is stunning (humans, animals, birds, fish). ‘You get a hint at the diversity of resurrection glory by looking at the diversity of bodies not only on earth but in the skies – sun, moon, stars – all these varieties of beauty and brightness. And we’re only looking at pre-resurrection ‘seeds’ – who can imagine what the resurrection ‘plants’ will be like!’ (vv.40–41, MSG).
He goes on, ‘This image of planting a dead seed and raising a live plant is a mere sketch at best, but perhaps it will help in approaching the mystery of the resurrection body – but only if you keep in mind that when we’re raised, we’re raised for good, alive forever!
‘The corpse that is planted is no beauty, but when it’s raised, it’s glorious. Put in the ground weak, it comes up powerful. The seed sown is natural; the seed grown is supernatural – same seed, same body but what a difference from when it goes down in physical mortality to when it is raised up in spiritual immortality!’ (vv.42–44, MSG).
The resurrection body and the spiritual body are the same substance, though that substance is transformed. Resurrection is creation ex vetere (from old), rather than ex nihilo (from nothing). The plant comes from the seed. Our current bodies will not be replaced with new bodies, but will be transformed into our resurrection bodies.
Jesus was still recognisable to his followers (with some help!). There was continuity and discontinuity in the resurrection body (Jesus could walk through walls, but still eat fish). What happened to Jesus will happen to you; you, like Adam, have a natural body. One day, like Jesus, the second Adam, you will have a spiritual body (vv.44–48): ‘Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly’ (v.49).
Prayer
Lord, thank you that just as Jesus died, was buried and raised to life, so too through your power we will be raised and have a spiritual body like Jesus’.
2 Chronicles 20:2–17
2 Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you... 3 Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the LORD, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah.
6 ...“LORD, the God of our ancestors, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.
9 ‘If calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgment, or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence before this temple that bears your Name and will cry out to you in our distress, and you will hear us and save us.’
14 Then the Spirit of the LORD came on Jahaziel son of Zechariah...
15 He said: “Listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s.
17 Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you... Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.’”
Commentary
Trust God to fight your battles
What battles are you facing in your life? Jehoshaphat had his battles to fight. He was facing various ‘-ites’; ‘Moabites, Amonites and Meunites’.
But with us, as Joyce Meyer writes, ‘It is the ‘fear-ites’, ‘disease-ites’, ‘poverty-ites’, ‘bad marriage-ites’, ‘stress-ites’, ‘grouchy neighbour-ites’, ‘insecurity-ites’, ‘rejection-ites’ and so on.’
When he fought against the King of Aram, ‘Jehoshaphat cried out, and the LORD helped him’ (18:31). We see in this the providence and sovereignty of God. God allowed a random arrow to kill the King of Israel, but protected Jehoshaphat who cried out to God (vv.28–34).
Jehoshaphat ‘turned [the people] back to the LORD’ (19:4). He appointed judges. He called them to avoid ‘injustice’, ‘partiality’ or ‘bribery’ (v.7). What a difference it would make to the world today if all the judges of the world were like that.
In spite of the fact that Jehoshaphat followed the Lord (‘He walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD’, 20:32), he continued to face battles. Just because you are facing battles in your life at the moment it does not mean you have done something wrong. Sometimes you face battles not because you are doing something wrong, but because you are doing something right.
A vast army came against him (v.2). Jehoshaphat proclaimed a nationwide fast and called together a massive prayer meeting with regional gatherings (vv.3–4).
He prayed to God. He recognised the power of God: ‘You rule over the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you’ (v.6).
He recognised that, ‘We have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you’ (v.12).
God responded with the words of a prophet. The Spirit of the Lord came upon him as they waited on God (v.14).
He said, ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s’ (v.15). ‘You will not have to face this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you… Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you’ (v.17).
Jehoshaphat worshiped the Lord (v.18). ‘They praised at the top of their lungs!’ (v.19, MSG). He told the people, in a message that pretty much sums up the whole of the book of Chronicles, ‘Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful’ (v.20).
They began to praise the Lord, singing, ‘Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures for ever’ (v.21). Worship is a weapon. As they praised, the Lord delivered them (v.22).
Prayer
Lord, I trust you today with the battles I face. Thank you that they are your battles. I don’t know what to do but my eyes are upon you.
Pippa adds
In 1 Corinthians 15:42 it says,
‘The resurrection… raised imperishable… raised in glory… raised in power… raised a spiritual body.’
Exciting! Something to look forward to!
Thought for the Day
Because of the resurrection of Jesus, you can trust that God will also raise you – in his own way – and that will be far better than anything you can imagine.
![reader](/assets/img/o2IIH9f3cp-320.jpeg)
App
Download The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel app for iOS or Android devices and read along each day.
![reader](/assets/img/VaA8S1A2AE-320.jpeg)
Subscribe now to receive The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel in your inbox each morning. You’ll get one email each day.
![reader](/assets/img/RdJg02ZuKy-320.jpeg)
Podcast
Subscribe and listen to The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel delivered to your favourite podcast app every day.
![reader](/assets/img/Tc2YebU1ft-320.jpeg)
Website
Start reading today’s devotion right here on The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel website.
Read now![reader](/assets/img/NqYO5ZJLnp-320.jpeg)
Book
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel Commentary is available as a book.
- Buy from the Alpha Shop
- Buy from CLC Bookshops
References
Joyce Meyer, The Everyday Life Bible (Faithwords, 2018) p.681.
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.