Isa 46:9-10
"For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me, ....
Saying,'My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure,' "
One of the great joys of pastoring in one church for seventeen years is that you get to see people pass through the darkest seasons of the church and life, leaning on the sovereign goodness of God, and come out on the other side with unshakable faith and joy.
The sovereignty of God is a most precious doctrine. All my personal battles in life have found their anchor in this one doctrine. In 1990, it was the birth of a seriously pre-mature baby. In 2001, it was the crisis in the church. In early 2006, it was the future of my daughter. In every one of these battles, I discovered the doctrine of the sovereignty of God the strong wood of the tree that kept our lives from being blown away by the wind. It was the rock that rose for us out of the flood of uncertainty and confusion. When all around my soul was giving away, it was the hope in a sovereign God that held my stay!
The word "sovereign" like the word 'trinity" does not occur in the Bible. But it is a word that refers to this one truth: God is in ultimate control of the world, from the largest international conference of statesmen to the smallest bird-fall in the forest.
Here is how the Bible puts it:
The sovereignty of God is a most precious doctrine. All my personal battles in life have found their anchor in this one doctrine. In 1990, it was the birth of a seriously pre-mature baby. In 2001, it was the crisis in the church. In early 2006, it was the future of my daughter. In every one of these battles, I discovered the doctrine of the sovereignty of God the strong wood of the tree that kept our lives from being blown away by the wind. It was the rock that rose for us out of the flood of uncertainty and confusion. When all around my soul was giving away, it was the hope in a sovereign God that held my stay!
The word "sovereign" like the word 'trinity" does not occur in the Bible. But it is a word that refers to this one truth: God is in ultimate control of the world, from the largest international conference of statesmen to the smallest bird-fall in the forest.
Here is how the Bible puts it:
Dan 4:35
All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: "What have you done?"
Matt 10:29-30
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground
apart from the will of your Father.
Job 23:13-14
But he is unchangeable and who can turn him?
What he desires, that he does.
For he will complete what he appoints for me;
Ps 115:3
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
Rom 9:15
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
All the peoples of the earth
are regarded as nothing.
He does as he pleases
with the powers of heaven
and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back his hand
or say to him: "What have you done?"
Matt 10:29-30
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground
apart from the will of your Father.
Job 23:13-14
But he is unchangeable and who can turn him?
What he desires, that he does.
For he will complete what he appoints for me;
Ps 115:3
Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever pleases him.
Rom 9:15
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
God's sovereignty means that his design for us cannot be frustrated. Nothing, absolutely nothing, befalls those who love God and are called according to his purpose, except what is for our deepest and highest good (Romans 8:28; Ps 84:11)
Therefore the goodness and sovereignty of God are the twin pillars of my life. They are the hope of my future, the energy of my service, the centre of my theology, the bond of my marriage; the authority in my parenting; the anchor of my ministry, the best medicine in my sickness, the remedy of all my discouragements. And when I come to die, these two truths will stand by my bed and, with infinitely strong and infinitely tender hands, lift me up to God, my Maker.
Therefore the goodness and sovereignty of God are the twin pillars of my life. They are the hope of my future, the energy of my service, the centre of my theology, the bond of my marriage; the authority in my parenting; the anchor of my ministry, the best medicine in my sickness, the remedy of all my discouragements. And when I come to die, these two truths will stand by my bed and, with infinitely strong and infinitely tender hands, lift me up to God, my Maker.
