May the Lord bless you, and may you remember that He is sovereign, as you homeschool your children. Pam
The Sovereignty of God in the Midst of Trials~
This week we are going to take a look at the sovereignty of God and it's relationship to our zeal for the Lord. I want to start with a quote by John G. Reisinger:
"God is involved in one way or another, in every event and each minute detail of that event. If that is not true, then we really have no sure hope for our lives in this confused generation."
A friend was sharing with me about a couple that she knows that have been unable to have children. The wife had several miscarriages, then tried all that the medical world had to offer. They still could not carry a baby full term. Then they began to look at adoption, The adoption agency contacted the couple telling them that they had a pregnant lady who was giving up her baby for adoption, and they had been chosen to adopt the baby when it was born. They were SO excited!! Friends shared in their excitement and they had several baby showers. They were ready for the big day! The day came when they got the call that the mother was in labor, the baby would soon be theirs.......the baby was stillborn.
I cannot imagine the tragic heartache of this couple...it makes my stomach tight and my heart hurt just to think of what they must have gone through! My friend, who was feeling such empathy for this couple said, "God just COULDN'T have been involved in that!" My response to her was, "Do we then believe that some how the devil snuck one past God? Or, that God was too busy or distracted with something else and He just messed up in this case?" I cannot believe that about the God that I serve!!
When I look in scripture, I see all through the Word, that God is sovereign in EVERY detail of our lives!! The reason that we find that hard to believe at times, is, that our lives are not always filled with good, easy and pleasant things. But, we must remember that God has an eternal perspective. His main goal is NOT our comfort, but His main goal is to forge our lives into living powerful testimonies to His grace and His power...that we would begin to look more and more like Jesus, who laid down His life and endured the horrors of the cross, to bring God's purposes to pass!! The cross, a tragic event that was TOTALLY God's plan and brought glory to His name and salvation to multitudes!!!
This lack of understanding of God's sovereignty is often the underlying cause for the loss of zeal in our lives as believers. If we see hurt, loss, and heartache all around us, and somehow think that "the devil is winning in this case", we are unwittingly denying the sovereignty of God. With that mind set, we begin to lose hope and faith. If we see the devil as "almost" as strong as God, and think they are in this cosmic battle that is "up for grabs" and we just HOPE that in our case, whatever our struggle might be, that God will win, then we cannot have peace or hope or faith. Let me share a thought with you. WE ARE ON THE WINNING SIDE!!! IT WAS NEVER UP FOR GRABS!! GOD IS IN CONTROL, HE ALWAYS HAS BEEN IN CONTROL, AND HE ALWAYS WILL BE IN CONTROL!!
Let's just read through some scriptures. Don't just "breeze" through these...read each one and let the truth of it sink into your heart and mind!
Job 42:2 "I know that You can do all things, no plan of Yours can be thwarted."
Psalms 33:11 "The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations."
Psalms 115:3 "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases."
Psalms 135:3 "Whatever the Lord pleases He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deep places."
Proverbs 16:19 "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines His steps."
Proverbs 19:21 "There are many plans in a man's heart, nevertheless, the Lord's counsel - that will stand."
Ecc. 7:14 " When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider, God has made one as well as the other."
Isaiah 46:9-11 "Remember the former things long past. For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, 'My purpose WILL be established, and I WILL accomplish all My good pleasure'; Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it." (emphasis mine)
Isaiah 48:3 "I declared the former things long ago and they went forth from My mouth, and I proclaimed them. Suddenly I acted, and they came to pass."
Isaiah 14:27 "For the Lord of Hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched out hand, who can turn it back?"
Lamentations 3:38 "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?"
Acts 4:27, 28 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur."
Ephesians 1:11 - "In Him we were chosen having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will."
These verses give me such peace! God is INVOLVED!! He is not only INVOLVED, He is IN CHARGE!! Sometimes we feel that He could only be in charge in the good things, but then what hope would we have in the hard times, or the tragic events? Think of Job...His whole world fell apart...was the devil winning? NO!! He had to go to God for permission for every trial he brought on Job!
I want to quote Arthur W. Pink in regards to God's Sovereignty in the midst of our trials:
"It is natural to murmur against afflictions and losses. It is natural to complain when we are deprived of those things upon which we had set our hearts...We feel that when we have prosecuted our plans with prudence and diligence that we are entitled to success...that when we are surrounded by a happy family, no power may lawfully enter the charmed circle and strike down a loved one; and if in any of these cases disappointment, bankruptcy, death, actually comes, the perverted instinct of the human heart is to cry out against God. But in the one who, by grace, has recognized God's sovereignty, such murmuring is silenced, and instead, there is a bowing to the Divine will, and in acknowledgement that He has not afflicted us as sorely as we deserve. A true recognition of God's sovereignty will avow God's perfect right to do with us as He wills. The one who bows to the pleasure of the Almighty will acknowledge His absolute right to do with us as seemeth Him good. If He chooses to send poverty, sickness, domestic bereavements, even while the heart is bleeding at every pore, it will say, 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right!' Often there will be a struggle, for the carnal mind remains in the believer to the end of his earthly pilgrimage. But though there may be a conflict within his breast, nevertheless, to the one who has really yielded himself to this blessed truth, there will presently be heard that Voice saying, as of old it said to the turbulent Gennesareth, "Peace be still!"; and the tempestuous flood within will be quieted and the subdued soul will lift a tearful but confident eye to heaven and say,'Thy will be done.'"
My prayer life has really changed since I've come to grasp the aspect of God's sovereignty. Instead of spending so much time praying ABOUT my circumstances (and I'm not saying that that is wrong, we can certainly lay any question or struggle at the feet of the Lord in prayer!) But I began to pray more like, "Lord, help me to be obedient to You and to glorify You in each thing that You sovereignly place in my day!" The striving is gone... there is peace.
I love the little poem that Corrie Ten Boom used to share while holding a piece of embroidery with the underside toward her listeners:
"My life is but a weaving, between my God and me, I do not choose the colors, He worketh steadily, Ofttimes He weaveth sorrow, and I in foolish pride, Forget He sees the upper, and I the underside.
"Not til the loom is silent, and shuttles cease to fly, Will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful in the skillful Weaver's hand, As the threads of gold and silver in the patten He has planned."
Then she would turn the piece of embroidery over revealing a beautiful picture of a crown!
I'll close with Psalms 139:16:
"Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Thy book they were all written, the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."
Praise God that He is in control!!
~Sharon Sands
No comments:
Post a Comment