Reply To: Knowing God, Chapters 9 & 10

[Lynne Mazza-Hilway]

Packer illustrates God’s consistent omnipotent wisdom as He continues to order the lives of His people today, teaching us the practices of living in His presence, resting in His revealed will and how to live for Him instead of the world, just as He taught Abraham. God gave him a new meekness, courage, dignity and patience, helping him to become a man of prayer, an intercessor for others. God humbled Jacob to teach him the “required sense of impotent helplessness and hopelessness without Him. The wisdom of God orders the events of a human life for a double purpose: the individual’s own personal sanctification and service in the life of the people of God.” We can ultimately see God’s sovereignty and hand in all that happens in our lives.

“Wisdom will not go with comforting illusions, false sentiment, or the use of rose-colored glasses; this deep-seated, sin-bred unrealism is one reason why there is so little wisdom among us.” I love Packer’s simple description of the Book of Ecclesiastes which he says is a sermon teaching us how to apply God’s wisdom to our lives. The sermon is a beautiful balance between “condemning flippancy yet has no time for superspirituality.” Looking forward to re-reading this sermon with a deeper perspective.