Stir Up to Grow Up

1 Kings 11:14 Then the LORD raised up Hadad the Edomite, a member of Edom’s royal family, to be Solomon’s adversary. I must admit that verses like this are hard to swallow. It's easy to talk about the sovereignty of God when it blesses us, but its difficult to take when His sovereignty impacts us in a negative way. The Bible is full of instances where God uses His authority to stir up His enemies in order to grow up His children. The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh (Exodus 9:12) on more that one occasion in order to show His glory and power to Israel and to Egypt. In the case of Job, God removed the hedge of protection so that the enemy could wreak havoc in the life of Job and his family (Job 1:12). In the case of Solomon, God stirred up his adversaries to discipline Solomon for turning from Him to serve pagan gods. God's sovereignty sometimes affects us in ways that are uncomfortable, and even painful, but His purposes for us are always for our good. Even Job and Solomon would agree.