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Friday, March 9, 2012

Believing In God's Sovereignty


Q: do you know God is sovereign?
Q: do you believe God is sovereign?
Q: do you believe in God's sovereignty?
Question two and three are different. The first is general and the second personal.
To be the spiritual person God has called us to be, we must believe in God's sovereignty. We must do this every moment and every day. Anything less is short change for you, and not meeting God's desires for us.

Let us look at Rebekah's (Genesis 25:23,27-34, 27:1-28:5 and Rahab's(Joshua 2, 6:22-25) life.
Rebekah knew God's word to her.  God told her that the two babies inside her were two nations, and that the younger would rule the older.  From her actions, it seems that this information she had was the reason for Jacob being her favorite son.  He happens to be the youngest of the twins.  When time came for Isaac, Rebekah's husband, to bless his oldest son Esau, Rebekah overheard and took matters into her hand.  why not? God did say that 'the elder shall serve the younger' right?  Isaac was messing things up and getting it wrong.  We will never know how God was going to fulfill His word to Rebekah, but Rebekah did not trust God enough to wait on Him.
How many times we find ourselves in this same spot? 
We are conditioned and trained to make things happen for ourselves. I am not talking work or no work, I am talking that drive in us to watch out for ME. It is selfish at its roots. God is saying something else to us.
Rebekah's action had the usual ripple effect. All action does. Her sons' relationship went bad-Esau wanted to kill Jacob. Also, she had to take more things into her hands to divert the consequences of her actions-Jacob was sent away. She died without ever seeing her son again. Esau's wives were also a source of aggravation for her-since she only knows to take matters into her own hands, she lived with that until she died.

Looking at Rahab, did she trust God? Yes! She showed she trusted God (works of faith) by hiding the spies even though they were coming to take over her country. She was initially afraid of God because she knew of His power. God promised protection with specific guidelines, and she trusted God to save her. What must have gone through her head when the walls were crumbling down, or hearing the Israelites marching around them? She risked being laughed at when she told her family to come and stay in her house. What if she thought to go somewhere else that seemed more safe? After all, when a city get conquered, the walls are usually broken down. Why should she wait in her house-don't make sense right? She However, choose to trust God's sovereignty even though it seems foolish. She is known even now for her faith.

So, can we trust God like that, even when our minds  and hearts are screaming 'NO!'? I trick you not, IT IS HARD! We all know that.
That trust is what Jesus meant when He said "if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you will and it will be done for you." John 15:17. It is also what He meant when He asked us to take His yoke on us and learn from Him- Matthew 11:29
.God is able to be sovereign and yet allow us to make our decisions.  He is able to work around or through our choices to still make His plan for us come to pass.  We only need to submit to Him.
Will You?