Every Good And Perfect Gift

If you are convinced that God is sovereign, and if you are convinced that the Lord is faithful; if you are convinced that the Lord sends trials to test and refine His people; then you will necessarily have a particular view of both God and the trials you endure and the blessings you enjoy. That which would drive one to despair or ungodly escape is viewed rather as the unseen hand of a loving Heavenly Father who desires only, as the great hymn expresses, "…Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine." On the other hand, that which would otherwise feed our native pride and cause us to put our faith in material or worldly things is seen rather as the pouring out of material blessing by a Great King who desires to lavish His children – princes and princesses all – with the best. But if His children respond to trials with bitterness or even sin, it is the fault of the child not the Heavenly Father who intends to prompt our growth and maturity. And if the prince responds with pride or a sense of entitlement, he has taken a great blessing and turned it into a curse, and once again, the fault is not with the Great King, but with the prince. The doctrine of God's sovereign love is not merely abstract theology, but is an eminently practical doctrine. – Pastor Schlegel