Sovereignty of God

Revelation 19:6 - And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!"

Whether you follow my blog or have just popped in you will know that a few weeks ago I was troubled about something I couldn't put my finger on. I've been letting these thoughts sit awhile before determining if I should post. 

Since then I have overcome the intense feeling I was experiencing. Sometimes God just allows difficulties through which we are reminded of who we are in relation to Him...if we have taken the faith-defining step in receiving Him and being in Him. 

So this blog really has a few messages: He allows difficulties because He is sovereign. Whether we know Him personally or not...He is sovereign, and He does what He will...because He is sovereign. Even our salvation is based on His sovereignty. This might be a bit convoluted, so put your thinking caps on!

I know from comments made by others since my troubling time there is more of what I was feeling going on than just within me. And it will probably happen again. It's good to know I'm not the only one. After all, it's not all about me, but about all the saints of God who occasionally go through struggles, physically or spiritually. It might have been from getting caught up in the bad news of the days that seemed to never end, a bit overwhelming, as if the world was imploding. Who knows? What I do know is even what we see happening God has under control.

To those who know God's Word, we see the Bible's view of the last days creeping in: Wars, rumors of war, nation rising against nation, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes  But we are not to be frightened. We are privileged to see God so hard at work defining these days, despite the sometimes unsettling feelings. It's exciting to know that we were chosen for such a time as this. When we realize this is God's way, not the way that seems right to man, we are on the right track. Maybe He's getting us spiritually strengthened in Him for the days ahead. He knows how we each need to be strengthened.

So my distress, whether it was all about the news or something I still haven't determined...it was a reminder that two things remains the same day after day...God is sovereign and He will never leave nor forsake anyone who has laid claim to His great gift of salvation. If we have this understanding of who He is, days won't become easier for us, but His peace will remain with us. If a struggle is what I need, I'm all for it. We will see in retrospect that He was alongside after all...and our faith is built up.

We need to understand that God is sovereign. This might be a difficult thing for mankind to believe. It doesn't always seem right to man when man thinks he is able to control the forces of nature or even such a small thing as his own life. God is sovereign, nonetheless. He controls all things, including who He chooses us to become His children. This gift that He has given me and sets me apart from the world is available to all who respond, but as I have been reading in The Sovereignty of God by A.W. Pink, it is not for everyone. This is where my mind has taken a detour!

Listen to these words: It is commonly taught that God the Father desires the salvation of all mankind, God the Son died with the goal of saving the whole human race, and that God the Holy Spirit is now trying to win the world to Christ. But isn't it a matter of common observation that the great majority of our generation are dying in sin and passing into a hopeless eternity? This was written in 1918 and sounds eerily like today. 

Pink goes on: the Sovereignty of God is absolute, irresistible, and infinite. Everything is in His right to do as He desires; He lives by His own rules; He is accountable only to Himself; He does not need to explain Himself. Sounds tyrannical but that's why He's God and we are not...it's the way that does not seem right to man and why often people will ignore His offer of salvation.

God is sovereign in the exercise of His power, mercy, love, and grace. He rules the world and all that is in it. Period. We are the ones who choose to do as WE wish and not heed God. Sovereign is defined as one possessing or held to possess supreme political power or sovereignty; an acknowledged leader. From what I understand it is nearly an obsolete word. And how many truly want to believe there is One who is greater than they?

When will God be looked upon as the One who rules...that by His word the world was created and He placed the stars in the sky and He causes the sun and moon to rise and go down at His own time? This pertains to the issue of salvation, too. According to Pink, God has the sovereign right to determine who will receive. So my exhortation is: If He allows you to hear His word and respond, I would not pass up the chance to take heart and respond, lest He make a negative determination through His own will.

What I'm getting at in all this is we will have our moments of uncertainty. We need to remind ourselves that God is in control. He might be developing our strength by allowing us to go through a difficult situation...and then realizing He was alongside all the time. Each time we go through something and come out unscathed, a trust in an all-knowing God is planted deeper within us. He is developing our faith.

Some people, I believe, might hide their difficulties, tending to make others think they are stronger in the Lord. Oswald Chambers said back on May 1 when I first wrote this blog and was referring to walking by faith, not sight: Some of us always want to be illuminated saints with golden haloes and the flush of inspiration... A gilt-edged saint is no good, he is abnormal, unfit for daily life, and altogether unlike God. We are here as men and women, not as half-fledged angels, to do the work of the world, and to do it with an infinitely greater power to stand the turmoil because we have been born from above. 

We are not perfect. We will slip, we will doubt occasionally. But God's power is greater and He is in complete control. God has us in His hands and He will set us straight, uphold us, do whatever He needs to strengthen us. We just need to walk by faith. We must remember that we should not be led by our emotion, as I did, but by that faith in God alone. As Chambers continued: Then comes the surprise - "Why, He was there all the time, and I never knew it!" 

Joshua 1:5 - No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life; as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you.