Sovereign

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

“From eternity to eternity I am God.  No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.  No one can undo what I have done.”  Isaiah 43:13

Once one gets past the sophomoric notion of atheism, to admit there IS a divine Creator, one must grapple with a supremely-challenging dilemma of IF that divine One is truly in charge…and to what degree.  Is God sovereign, or are there some things he cannot (or chooses not) to touch?  And if He truly is “in charge” of everything, why is the world in such a mess?

If one has the temerity to affirm God is Sovereign (as Isaiah wrote), the final question surrounding humankind’s response to a sovereign God is two-fold:  What does that look like, and how should I live now that I know that?

In my limited experience as a human being, and a believer in the sovereignty of God, in nearly 50 years of theological thinking, writing, preaching, and pastoral ministry, I have never been able to fully articulate in a single sentence the answer to that question…until yesterday, when a Facebook friend re-posted a prayer from a friend’s page:

It took me just a moment to read it, and pass it off as simply another superficial stab at teaching a child to pray.  I continued scrolling through the endless and mostly inane trivia of social media, but the thought of that sentence would not fade to the background  Then the depth of faith contained in this one sentence scratched its’ way to the surface of my tired mind and shouted:  Listen, Russell; you’re never going to need more in life, or My Kingdom than this.  This is what living in My Kingdom is like; this is how you bow before Sovereign Lord.

I’m not one given to hearing God audibly, or seeing a message behind every bush or cute thing my dog does, but this one sentence about how to go about greeting God every morning of my life makes more sense than all the combined drivel you can find in self-help speeches and books; this is placing 100% of all the trust I can ever muster in God’s care for me. 

Fix me when I’m the problem – is taking the humble knee, admitting I’m broken enough to need fixing

Protect me when I’m not the problem – is admitting I’m going to move on in God’s strength, speaking up for loving justice, doing mercy, and walking humbly with God[1], because my strength isn’t enough for this messy life…I need Him to have my back.

·       This is taking my stand on the only hill I’ve ever truly needed to die on. 

·       This is how you take up the cross and follow the One who died for you. 

·       It is the bottom line of the call. 

For You Today 

Want to know how to walk in God’s presence?  Let your heart pray:

Sovereign Lord, fix me and protect me as I walk with You today!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library. 

Title Image:  via WikimediaCommons   Images without citation are in public domain.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.Micah 6:8