Word For The Day: God is Sovereign
Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise, you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil. – James 4:13-16 #Covid19 #GodIsSovereign
“If the Lord wills.” God is in control, He is sovereign. He does whatever He has purposed to do, and His will determines if we will be able to do what we plan. That God is sovereign means that God is not limited by external forces, nor does he limit His own power and will. The suffering that we face may well be beyond our control, but it is never beyond God’s control.
Our confidence in God’s sovereignty is foundational to whether we will trust Him! Jerry Bridges writes, “If there is a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God’s sovereign control, then we can not trust Him. His lofe may be infinite, but if His power is limited, and His purpose can be thwarted, we cannot trust Him.”
“God permits, for reasons known only to Himself, people to act contrary to and in defiance of His revealed will. But He never permits them to act contrary to His sovereign will.”
Consider these Scriptures:
Proverbs 16:9
We can make our plans,
but the Lord determines our steps.
Proverbs 19:21
You can make many plans,
but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
We can and should make plans, but those plans will only prevail to the degree that they are in line with the sovereign purpose of God.
This truth also means that no person can carry out an evil intent against you unless God has first ordained it to happen! God is always in control, but the pain we face in those moments is real! We may suffer the injustice of others, but amid that suffering, we take courage and comfort because we believe that God is in control.
Knowing that God is sovereign also means that He controls the inability, mistakes, and failures of other people. We live in a region where healthcare is not of a standard found in other places in Africa. We might be tempted to worry. What about the testing capacity of Zambia for COVID19? What if I contract the disease and require a ventilator, will it be available? These thoughts fill some Christians with undue concern. Here is the truth of God’s sovereignty: “Neither the willful, malicious acts nor the unintended mistakes of people can thwart God’s purpose for us.”
Proverbs 21:30
No human wisdom or understanding or plan
can stand against the Lord.
The mighty Roman empire could not crucify Jesus unless God gave them the power to do it (John 19:10-11). The tiniest little bird cannot fall to the ground apart from His will (Matthew 10:29). What is true for Jesus and what is true for the smallest bird is true for you and me today!
Head out into your day with trust in God! You are safely in His hand. He is solidly in control of every circumstance you will encounter, and He delights in doing us good!
Pastor Phil
Trusting God Quotes by Jerry Bridges(page 2 of 2). https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/123695-trusting-god-even-when-life-hurts?page=2