He does what he wants

I was sharing the gospel with a dear friend last week.  As he was asking me different questions, he asked me one that went something like this, "So, you wanna get married right?"



"Well, yes."



"So, even if you never get married, do you still trust Him and love Him?"



My friend knew how to get to my heart of hearts, but the answer is simply, "Yes."



"Ok, so, what if you never get married and lots and lots of bad things happen to you for the rest of your life, are you still going to worship Him and call him good?"



"Well, yes." 



If there ever comes a time like that, I know that won't be easy and I am not saying I won't wrestle with it, but God is either all good all the time or He is not good at all.  He is all powerful all the time or he is not in control at all.  I don't get to choose what God's character is based on the circumstances around me.



At a ladies retreat I went to this past weekend, the speaker pointed out that usually when we face a crisis of belief these are the two character traits of God we struggle with most.  Some of us will declare "well, God is all powerful, but he must not be all good (or he would have prevented this)," while others of us will claim, "God is good, but he must not be all powerful (or he would have stopped this)."  But, both of these are lies.



The beauty of God's sovereignity is "his absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure" (Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary).  Nothing in that statement says I have the right to understand or approve of what He is doing.   As Job puts it "But he is singular and sovereign. Who can argue with him? He does what he wants, when he wants to" (23:13).



I must choose to trust His heart.  I must choose to trust how He has revealed Himself to me and to my ancestors in the past.  I must choose to trust that He is who He says He is in His Word. 



So, then, let's celebrate our sovereign Lord.  Let's delight in the fact that in all things and in all ways forever and always He alone--an all-powerful, all-good God--is supreme, is in complete control.

"How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you–there is no other God. We have never even heard of another god like you! . . . For you are God, O Sovereign LORD. Your words are truth, and you have promised these good things to me, your servant.  And now, may it please you to bless me and my family so that our dynasty may continue forever before you. For when you grant a blessing to your servant, O Sovereign LORD, it is an eternal blessing!"  (2 Samuel 7:22, 28-29)



7 comments:

  1. Believe me, I have wrestled many times, but the problem is my disbelief and not God's sovereignty...Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this topic.

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  2. Amanda, I remember when I was single in my mid-20s living overseas and wondering if I would ever get married! I felt like all my friends from college were happily married, but I had missed the "wave." Then I remember the day I realized I was content with whatever God had in store for me -- that I was fulfilled with being His bride. It brought such peace to me. (It happened when I was jogging -- I remember the exact moment!) I love the scripture that you chose to share!

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  3. Oh I've had valley moments where I went, "God what are you thinking?" In the end, we either trust Him or we don't. What a powerful post Amanda and oh sooooo true.
    I just read Heather I's comment and I used to pretend that any love song I heard was being sung to me by God - my favorite was "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman - http://www.christianlyricsonline.com/artists/steven-curtis-chapman/i-will-be-here.html

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  4. Ahh, when we can't trust His hand, trust His heart. You brought to mind an old song with this post. God is good, all the time. Without that promise, His sovereignty would be scarey wouldn't it?

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  5. @ Janna: Yes--very scary!
    AND!! I LOVE that song!!
    Here is the entire chorus:
    God is too wise to be mistaken
    God is too good to be unkind
    So when you don't understand
    When don't see his plan
    When you can't trace his hand
    Trust His Heart
    The song is written by written by Eddie Carswell & Babbie Mason, but I heard it song by NewSong (Eddie is the founding member of NewSong). Anyway--great song. Love it.

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  6. @Blair: Another great song!!
    I listened to that one over and over as a teenager, each time longing to have it song at my wedding. That one and "Household of Faith" sung by Steve Green.
    I think Steven Curtis Chapman was one of my all time favorite singers when I was growing up. Until I went to college, I had each of his CDs AND thus all the songs on each CD memorized!
    He has some awesome love songs--as well as do other muscians, but I have never before thought of imagining that it was God singing that love song over me. Interesting concept.

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  7. Thanks for sharing, Amanda. (Found you on the Carnival.) When I was going through a trying time (years of it), someone told me: Life is hard, but God is good!

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