There are two passages assigned for today!

SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 10
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
“Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. But this is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations. [Isaiah 10:5-7]
God’s chosen people have become corrupt, therefore God sends the Assyrians to punish them.
The Assyrian armies will trample Israel, tear down her palaces, ruin her crops, kill her leaders, enslave her people, steal all her wealth – God will allow this as punishment for the perversion that has corrupted them.
But even though God uses the Assyrians, He is not blind to their own sin and pride and corruption [Isaiah 10:12-13].
God is directing the affairs of this planet, He even uses evil kings and leaders to accomplish His purpose.

“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” [John 19:10-11]
Pilate has no regard for God, yet God has placed him in this position; Judas was also put where he was for a purpose.
But neither can use this as an excuse to not be responsible for their actions.
God did not make them betray or crucify Jesus, this was their choice, their character, their responsibility.
God does not make people do evil, He knows what lives in them and works with their character as it is.
Pilate had a choice, and so did Judas, and both acted true to themselves, to what was in their hearts.
The same with the Assyrian – their intention was not to fulfill God’s purpose, but to do what they loved to do – to pillage, destroy, oppress, defeat others.

Every person is placed where they are, for a purpose.
We have the freedom to choose what we do, to be how we want to be.
And God uses how we choose, and what we do, to accomplish His greater purpose.
He does this on an individual level (Judas), a leadership level (Pilate), and a corporate level (Assyria).
But at each level, people are responsible for their choices and actions, and will have to give an account to God for what they did or didn’t do.

The Nazi soldier, Hitler as a leader, and Nazi Germany as a whole – each had a role to play in God’s unfolding purpose. And each one will be accountable to God for what they did or didn’t do.
The same for the Allied soldier, Churchill as a leader, and the Allied nations as a whole.
The same for the individual Jesus-follower, the leaders in the church, and the church as a whole.
God uses and directs our choices and actions – good and bad – to establish His kingdom.
And one day we will have to give an account to Him, when He will expose the true intentions of our hearts.

PRAYER:
Lord, I am what I am, and where I am, by Your grace. Thank You for using me – the good and the bad. Help me today to do what is right and good, to respond to each challenge and opportunity in a way that pleases You.