Photo Above: (Pontcysyllte Aqueduct) Wales, UK. Photographer: Akke Monasso
God’s Sovereignty
“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” Mathew 10:29-30
One time I went to a RC Sproul conference on God’s sovereignty. RC Sproul gave this story about two troops in Vietnam in the midst of enemy warfare and shooting. One of the soldiers was very relaxed in the midst of the fighting. The stressed out man almost freaking out at the other soldier, asks him how he stays so calm. The relaxed man said “I figure there’s one bullet with my name on it and it’s going to hit me no matter what.” The other soldier looks at him and says “I am just worried about the bullets passing by my head that say “to whom it may concern”.
The scriptures are pretty clear about the sovereignty of God. Jesus tells that not even a sparrow falls to the ground apart from his knowledge. This scripture shows God’s omniscience, or in other words the fact that God knows everything. But this scripture does not necessarily mean God is actively involved with the daily flight paths of all the sparrows in the world.
From other scriptures we learn that God is not only omniscience, but that He is also omnipotent, or in other words God is all powerful. But God’s omnipotence does not necessarily mean that God is actively controlling everything that is going on in the world, it just means He could be if He decided to. You will be hard pressed to find many theologians that believe God was actively involved in the intricacies of the Holocaust. That doctrine would be nothing less than disgusting.
You see even though God is sovereign over the world, and even though no power in heaven and on earth could stop God in any way, there are also other active agents in the world. These active agents oppose God and His purposes. These active agents against God and his purposes are fourfold. They are:
1. Our sin.
2. Other peoples sin
3. The fact that we live in a fallen world (famine, natural disasters, etc).
4 Satan and the unseen demonic world.
God is sovereign over all of these agents, but for a time He allows such agents to exist in His creation. But we know in the end God himself will judge every sin, right every wrong, and save all of those who have accepted Him as Lord.
Questions to ponder?
-Do you struggle with the fact that God is good, loving, and sovereign, but also allows evil now?
-God’s primary work in your life is to make you like Jesus. Are you more concerned about this or are you more concerned about figuring out where God stands in every situation?
-Are you letting the Holy Spirit move in your life to make you more like Jesus? Are you making this world a better place for others or are you contributing to the evil of this world?
two minute devotional 