Contributor: Annie
Scriptures: Jeremiah 10:12-13 Amos 4:7 Psalm 104 Romans 9:20-21
When those of us who write these devotions see the topic we have to meditate upon to bring a fresh insight, sometimes it is a wee bit daunting. Beginning with God’s Word, we search and research, always asking for guidance and something that will bring glory to His Name and encouragement to those who will read it. Recently, I heard someone say that our purpose in reading and absorbing God’s Word is not for information but transformation. This has been a real lesson to me when meditating upon God’s Sovereignty.
The Sovereignty of God is a controversial subject. Our minds struggle with the concept. If He is totally good and just and merciful, why does God allow so much evil to abound? Paul raised just this question in his letter to the Romans; out of the same piece of clay a potter makes a vessel for honour and another for dishonour, because he is the potter, he is the one making the vessels.
Scripture declares God’s manifest control over everything. It is abundantly clear that all of the natural world is under His Sovereign control and that He could, if He chose, minimise the effects of the natural disasters that occur around the world. I cannot answer the question that so often arises as to why He seems not to do so. But how do we know that He does not? We see the result but have no idea whether this is much lesser than it could have been had He not intervened.
I don’t think that God desires us to wrestle with these issues, this is not why He has called us into Life with Him. It is enough for us to know that nothing takes Him by surprise or flusters Him. He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. By trusting His Sovereignty, we can “be still and know that He is God”, we can take His Hand and walk on the water with Him, while the storm rages on around us. This is a precious, blessed assurance.
Information is not what causes us to trust God with every moment of our lives. The transforming power of the Revelation of Christ as our One and Only Saviour brings us into a relationship with God where we can daily lean on Him, not on our own understanding, our own assessment of circumstances and events. The foundation for simply accepting that God is sovereign is the realisation that Christ really did come to this earth to bring us peace. Jesus told us that we will have trouble and heartache in this world, but to trust Him, to be brave enough to believe that He has overcome the world.
Holy Spirit will transform us by the renewing of our mind, a renewing that enables us to accept, without reservation, that God is sovereign over everything. And we need that renewing to be able to put aside our reasoning, questioning and doubting. Jesus was taunted and mocked by the mob because He chose to trust God’s Sovereignty. He could have called down 12 legions of angels, but He trusted His Father. There is no greater example of the Sovereignty of our God. He had to turn His Face away from His Son, yet He was still the One who was in control, never once was that control taken from Him.
God always was, is and will be Sovereign Lord over all.
Prayer: Abba Father, thank You that You are the great I AM. Transform us Lord so that we will learn to put all our trust in You, every day.