Do you like to have control of life and all the little details? Do you start to panic when situations start to feel as though they are veering out of control? Learn how to rest in the all-powerful hands of God and trust His plan for your life in today's devotional.
A God Who Is Sovereign
I am The Lord; that is my name.
I yield my glory to no one else, nor my praise to any idol.
Isaiah 42:8
“You are my witnesses,” says The Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you can know me and trust me and understand that I am He –
no god was produced before me nor will any be after me. I, yes, I am The Lord;
besides me there is no deliverer”
Isaiah 43:10-11
The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God! In the entire universe, The Lord God Almighty is the only one who is sovereign. I find great comfort in that fact. (But there have certainly been times in my life when I have acted as if He were not). Of the many themes woven throughout Scripture, The Word of God, from beginning to end, one of them is His sovereignty. When faced with tremendous loss, urgent problems, and things beyond our control, it is imperative to remember that God is still King of the Universe. He still reigns supreme and is sovereign.
God in His sovereignty has supremacy over all things. He has a plan, revealed to us in His precious Word, and whether we realize it or not, He is continually working things toward that plan, toward His divine providence which is intentional and purposeful.
Harper’s Bible Dictionary describes providence this way, “God has a plan and purpose for this world. Providence is not a principle of orderliness or reason; rather, providence is the will of the Creator who is actively involved in moving His creation to a goal. History is not a cyclical process of endless repetition; history is being moved toward the predetermined end.” * How amazing! How exciting! His-story is not a cycle of endless repetition, His-story is moving all creation to the predetermined end, when “Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!” (Philippians 2:5-11) And Revelation 11:14-16,
“The kingdom of this world will be the Kingdom of our Lord!”
Ever since Adam and Eve sinned, the Adversary, Satan (Ha-satan in Hebrew), the father of lies, the great deceiver and a murder the one who comes like a roaring lion to kill, to steal and to destroy … has been given rule over the earth. But his time and power is limited and is nearing its end. The Adversary is called “The Prince of the Power of the Air” … but even this prince is subject to The Lord God and His sovereignty. (1 Peter 5:8; John 8:44, 12:31, 16:11; 2 Cor.11:2-3; Luke 10:18; Matt.8:28-29). As long as sin and death are part of the human existence, there will be evil and pain in the world. But Praise be to God! Jesus Christ conquered sin and death at the Cross and when He returns, the Adversary will no longer have power over the earth!
God’s plan from the beginning was to dwell with us, to have a relationship with us. From the time He created Adam to the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God incarnate; God’s presence dwelt with man through various periods of history or specific individuals. But through salvation in Jesus Christ, God through the Holy Spirit, dwells in us! (John 3:16).
Of all that The Lord God created; humans alone have free will. God did not create us like robots, but with the ability to think, reason and choose. That takes a tremendous amount of love! But God in His sovereignty also knew that only when love is a choice, is it genuine. Before creation, God existed, for He is eternal. Before He created the earth and all that is in it, He created the angels. One of the arch angels, Lucifer, endowed with great power and beauty, wanted to be God and rebelled against The King of the Universe. The Lord cast him out of heaven along with a third of the angels (demons) that followed him.
Adam and Eve chose to disobey one of the very few commands The Lord God gave them; not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. (Genesis 2:15-17). After being tempted by Satan, Eve then Adam, gave into doubt and disbelief, which led to disobedience. These three elements inevitably lead to three more which are deceit, destruction and death. Such is the cycle of pride and rebellion.
I wonder if we have ever considered that the “knowledge” Adam and Eve were denied access to, were possibly truths that would overwhelm them. God said, “Do not eat” not to deny them, but to protect them! Perhaps they could have resisted the fruit, but they could not resist the desire for power and control of their own life. (Genesis 3:1-7).
Oh, how many times have I not been able to resist the desire for power and control over my own life! I believed the lies that I really could control my own life; the deception that I was the master of my own fate and destiny; succumbed to the doubt that God is truly sovereign … because if He was, then surely, I would not have experienced the traumatic things that happened in my life … things I had no control over.
I gave in to my insidious pride and rejected God’s ways in order to have my way. I rebelled because I thought I knew what I wanted in my life, and I did not understand that God was protecting me, instead of denying me. All of this doubt, disbelief and deception eventually led to destruction (tremendous pain, shattered dreams, broken heart, messed up life) … as pride and rebellion inevitably do. Can you relate?
Listen, Beloved, the Adversary wanted death for me; but God purchased me with the price of His dear Son, and instead used what was meant to destroy me to redeem, restore and heal me. I finally reached the end of myself and willingly died to my will, admitting God’s sovereignty in my life and surrendering to His will. Oh, I have never looked back! I have never, for a moment, regretted that decision!
God is a good God! He never authors evil. In His sovereignty He works all things together for our good and according to His plan. (Romans 8:28). It is only in trusting The Lord that I no longer desire to control my life and insist on my way. If we are going to believe by faith the absolute authority of God’s divine Word, then foundationally, we need to accept the very opening words of Scripture in Genesis…“In the beginning God...” (Genesis 1:1).
“In the beginning God.” Life is not about me or anything I do or anything I make or anything I accomplish. It is about The Lord God and His purpose. Yet we live in a society of complete self-absorption and self-indulgent choices. We live in a culture that reinforces idol worship at every turn … in ads, magazines, books, music, movies and values …to name a few.
We worship the idols and the gods of self, success, achievement, career, fortune, fame, fashion, beauty, aesthetic perfection, athleticism, talent, pride and self-sufficiency … or if life has dealt some serious blows, we worship the gods of unbelief, bitterness, anger, self-pity, despair, doubt, depression, addiction, busyness, distraction, fear … Yet God said,
“I am The Lord; that is my name.
I yield my glory to no one else, nor my praise to any idol.”
Isaiah 42:8
An idol is not just an object; an idol is anything, anything that consumes us or that we give priority to, over God. Our over-indulgent choices have not brought satisfaction or fulfillment, but instead have left us emptier than ever before. Why? Because sin is always sin regardless of consensus or popular opinion, inevitably leading to destruction. (Matt. 16:25-27). As long as we think life is all about us, we will never experience the freedom and victory in Christ that we were meant to experience.
Oh, dear Friends, do not think for one moment, that God in His sovereignty is not in every detail of your life … because He is! He cares for you intimately and knows you intricately. God has a plan and a purpose for you, personally and individually! But we have a choice to make. We can choose to focus on our own little plan for our life … or we can surrender our life to His divine plan for the universe, and the unique design and integral part that we each play in His divine providence! Then our story becomes part of His-story.
What can you surrender today? What can you let go of clutching so you can open your hands to received God’s best for you?
Editor's Note:
This blog is by Freedom to Flourish Life Coaching Founder and Christian Life Coach, Jen Stone-Sexton. She is currently accepting new clients. You can learn more about Jen here.
Jennifer Stone-Sexton © 2022. Freedom to Flourish Life Coaching. All Rights Reserved.
* Quote: P.J. Achtemeier, Harper’s Bible Dictionary, (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985) 832.
All Scripture references and quotations used with permission: Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern, Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc., Clarksville, Maryland USA & Jerusalem, Israel
Photo Credits: Cover by Zac Durant on Unsplash | Photo 1 by Omer Salom on Unsplash | Photo 2 by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash | Photo 3 by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash | Photo 4 by Dev Benjamin on Unsplash