The Grasp of God and Other Things
The Grasp, Gardens, and Augustine
The Grasp of God
"His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?"
Isaiah 14.27
Who can resist the grasp of God? What is beyond his reach? The Creator of Heaven and Earth and all that is in them has purposed everything for its time. As it is written in Ecclesiastes 3.1 "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." The grasp of God is far and wide and it encompasses all things.
For some, this could strike fear into their hearts, that God controls all things and that nothing is beyond his reach. For others, it brings comfort, that God carries them in his hand and that nothing escapes his vision. Which are you? When you read that verse from Isaiah 14 what comes into your heart, is it love, admiration, skepticism, or fear? God is sovereign, meaning he has all authority and power. These two terms are essential when talking about the sovereignty of God.
God has the authority, he has the right to rule. He made the universe, he filled us with his breath, and all things bear his touch. He was before us, before time, before the world began he was. And he is, still working, moving, ruling, and caring for his family. How great is it that our God still has the ability to do these things?! He can do all things because he has the right to do them, it is his world, his universe, and I am his creature, a participant in the story of God. And what a role we have to play, to know that the magnificent God who created everything I have ever known, and don't know, has given me a role to do is utterly astounding.
Not only does he have the right and rule to give me a role to play in the great story of God and Creation, but he has the ability to work those things out. He has the power, the other half of sovereignty. He is not weak or possesses an ineffectual will, but his grasp encloses over everything. Without the right to rule he would be tyrannical, a usurper of some higher power, but he has all authority and right. Without the power to rule he would be weak, unstable, and ineffectual in his rule, but he has all the power and is able to save unto the uttermost.
Gardens
In the late summer heat, a garden grows along the northwestern wall, and a variety of squash, zucchini, and tomatoes can be found there. We planted this garden in hopes of reaping the beautiful bounty of garden squash. My sister's garden was ravaged last year by squash bugs. One of the only ways to get rid of them, and still get squash, is to grow your goods offsite.
When we moved up here, we were primed and ready to accept the task of growing these delicious vegetables. We dug the ground with two shovels and made several small raised beds. Then we added compost. A few months later, I have squash plants taking over one decent-sized section of the backyard. Their little tendrils blindly reached for what I could only surmise to be more control of the yard. They even sent scouts toward the fence, but I steered them to more level ground, repeatedly.
We have since picked several squash only to find out that the yellow ones we picked too late, and the whitish ones we picked too early. Growing pains...  Come to find out, I know very little about gardening, but where there is a will there is a way, plus having knowledgeable friends is a boon to one's understanding... and squash success rate.
Turns out that gardening is like riding a bike, you will fall off a few times. And it takes you getting on the bike in the first place, knowing that you will fall. In a way, it takes courage or a bit of perseverance to grow something that may not make it. Not that I am saying that I am courageous for gardening. But boy, when the first produce is ready to harvest it all becomes worth it.
This garden is my third attempt at personally producing produce. And the third time is the charm because we have had success. I am looking forward to expanding our garden now. We have plans to tarp a large part of our front yard for putting down a cover crop this fall/winter and prepping for spring. There is so much that I enjoy with our garden, the touch, the smells, and watching everything grow. Gardening is a unique living puzzle that constantly wants to be solved.
A Quote
I wanted to share a quote that I heard a while back. I believe I first heard John Piper say it, but he was quoting Augustine. Here is the quote:
Grace is the sovereign joy that triumphs over all other competitors.
What a potent statement. Grace is a powerful ally in the fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Sola Gratia, by grace alone do we approach the throne of God. By His wonderful grace, we are saved, set free from sin, and sent to do his will.
The joy that grace gives us is a sovereign joy, it comes from God. It is powerful, it has authority, and it is an effectual grace. This is not the cheap grace that Bonhoeffer wrote so passionately about. No, this grace is life changing, path-altering, life saving grace.
Because this grace is from God, it is triumphant. It has won the victory over sin and over you, the Christian. Christ has given us himself, and that is grace. In him we have life, and that life is the light of men. When we see Christ and we are satisfied by what we see, that is grace. God's grace is greater. His joy is deeper. It triumphs over all other competitors.
Going Paid
As a reminder, The Workbox is going paid. You can check out the full description here in last week's post. There are cool perks available for paid subscribers and you are going to want to check out the referral program! My overall goal with this Substack is to supplement some income so I can spend more time writing and being at home with my family.
Local Photography
This week’s pictures are shots from a recent concrete driveway job that we did for work. It was a fun, challenging job that took about a week total. We also did a small 7x22 foot section on the neighbors driveway too. Overall the driveway was approximately 40x22 and a decent slope. Given the location of house there was no shade at all during our working hours, which made for some hot days.
