Joel M Bradshaw

 34“When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession…–Leviticus 14

Two basic interpretations here:

1, GOD PASSIVELY ALLOWED IT TO HAPPEN. This would try to let God off of the hook or make Him seem powerless to do anything about the severely moldy house. But do you take the beginning of the verse that way? Did God passively allow Israel to come into the land of Canaan or did He intentionally give it to them as the Promised Land? If you say no then I invite you to stay consistent. The sovereign God is the sovereign God.

2 GOD INTENTIONALLY ACTED. You can not know why God had decided to inflict a house and at the same time trust His plan. We know that God does not sin and that He is good. Therefore God’s plan is ultimately resulting in good even when moments and seasons present struggles. The Old Testament Joseph landed his plane there. ‘You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good’ (Genesis 50:20). God didn’t allow, He intended and directed it for good. Even when what happened at times to Joseph were not good things.

I have struggled with this question for most of my life. My disease, MS, is not one that you can contract. I didn’t get bit by a venomous MS insect. God didn’t allow me to wander off course and then whoops I got MS. No, it just is. I can’t control how I got it or what to do with it. God intended it for me. You either have it or you don’t. God’s plan was for me to have it.

And so the question I therefore ask is WHAT DOES THE SOVEREIGN GOD EXPECT ME TO LEARN THROUGH THIS? I have found this question to be very helpful. I have learned through having this disease to daily trust God. And that trust is a wonderful thing. While MS isn’t in itself good, what this season has produced certainly is. I am therefore grateful to God for it for my having MS has led me closer to Him. I invite you to ponder God’s sovereignty and your life though that lens. Now I don’t have a moldy house to deal with today, but I do need to replace a leaky bathroom sink faucet. May I remember my own devotion today as I am crammed into a tight space!–JMB