Sovereignty

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:29‬ ‭ESV‬‬).

When things in life just don’t go our way, it’s easy to question God. “Why did you allow this to happen?!?” Sometimes we get angry with Him, and that’s alright. God is not going to turn His back on us for allowing our hurting hearts to ask for answers. Sometimes it’s the only then that we are genuine with Him.

Sometimes our every-day face is doing everything possible to hide our weaknesses, hoping that God won’t notice our failings, doubts and fears for the smile we wear and the religious words we use when we pray. But God isn’t fooled! We forget that some of the greatest people in the Bible had those same failings, doubts and fears. We forget that God has “taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle” (Psalm 56:8 NASB).

We can be so arrogant in our thinking that we know what is best for us, for our loved ones, for the world. But, while it is normal and acceptable to ask God, “Why?”, we still must come to grips with the fact that He sees things from a different, and more clear, perspective. He set this world in motion in the beginning, and He knows how things will turn out. He has the big picture in mind, when all we can see is pain and devastation.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8 ESV).

But, knowing this rarely takes away the pain. And we seldom get satisfying answers to our questioning while we walk this earth. The thing that we need to come to grips with is called sovereignty.

Sovereignty is God’s right to govern the universe without interference from anyone or anything else. It’s easy to respect His sovereignty when good things happen to us—we rarely ask “Why?”. But when things don’t go so well we feel entitled to a complete accounting of God’s thought processes and actions.

Our text in Matthew 10:29 should give us a little peace in our hearts when “bad” things happen, to us or someone we care about. God’s doesn’t act willy-nilly in making his decisions. We can know how seriously He takes each and every one because He is even concerned about sparrows! How much more does He care for us? Infinitely more. Matthew 6:30 says “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you…” (ESV)?

Ultimately we must decide if we can trust that God knows what is best, even if it brings us pain and grief, or if we are going to allow bitterness to take even more from us. The greatest single act that demonstrates God’s trustworthiness was the sacrifice of Jesus. Even Jesus had questions. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Matthew 27:46 ESV)? Yet Jesus accepted the hand that He was dealt.

God’s sovereignty is a heavenly stamp of approval that reads, “It is finished!”.

Image from: https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2159.html