Thankfulness Things: Sovereignty

I AM THANKFUL FOR GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY

I was always amazed when I read the story of Esther in the Bible.  At one point, Esther learns that her people are to be violently annihilated and she, as the queen, may be able to save them.  But, the law of the land was that no one (not even the queen) could enter the king’s presence unbidden.  If the king did not extend his scepter to this impostor, the penalty was immediate death.  Yet, Esther, fully trusting in the God she served said, “I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”  She trusted more in the plans of her sovereign Father than in her own imminent danger.  And as the story goes, Esther is invited into the King’s presence and God’s people are saved from extinction.

Not only do I struggle with having the attitude of “…if I perish, I perish”, but I am constantly trying to control all of the variables so that I don’t have to even think about perishing.  In my finite mind I believe that if I can just get the safest flight, or the car with the most advanced air bags, or if I can consume enough spinach and quinoa, and if I never ever sky dive, THEN I will be fully insulated from anything bad that might happen to me. 

But here’s what really happens:  When I focus my energies on myself and my health and my possible demise, I am consumed with worry and I feel like everything is a threat; I feel out of control.  But when I replace those thoughts with words of surrender to God’s perfect plans, I can rest in His sovereignty.  He is after all, the One who is actually in control—I never have been.  As I read through the Bible, it doesn’t guarantee that I will be safe from harm, but it does say God is good.  He’s good even when I don’t understand His “goodness”.  It doesn’t say that my life will be all roses, but it does say God’s plans will prevail.  Now, if God is always good, and if His plans always happen the way he intends, then why do I worry, as if I had any power to change things?  I can’t, of course, throw all caution to the wind, as God calls us to be wise and use our transformed minds, but I can stop worrying about what is coming next and trust in He who is in charge of history. 

And I can even go skydiving if I want. 

But only if I want to speed my journey to heaven because I am sure I would die from a heart attack on the way down.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.”

Psalm 91:1-2

“Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art; I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.  Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, and Thy beauty fills my soul, for by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.”