Calling It

“Who, like me, can call it?” (Isaiah 44:7).

Colorful National League umpire, Bill Klem, on one occasion, delayed calling a pitch. “Well,” complained the player, “is it a ball or a strike?” Most umpires would simply acknowledge the facts, but Klem was made of sterner stuff. “Sonny,” he replied, “it ain’t nothing ’til I call it.”

So it is: Nothing ain’t nothing (or better yet, nothing is nothing) until God “calls it.” But when he does, the word becomes fact and flesh and history, an idea so firmly imbedded in biblical thought that the Hebrew word dabar, in certain contexts, can mean at the same time both word and event. 

History and current events are not "one damn thing after another,” as Henry Ford insisted, but the end product of God’s infinite wisdom. There are no maverick molecules (or viruses) in the universe. 

Therefore, “Don’t be afraid…” (Isaiah 44:8). 

David Roper

4.4.20