Everything’s OK. God is in charge.
That’s a comforting thought, isn’t it? Ultimately, how life turns out and even how today turns out is not up to me. (But don’t take that too far – see below.)
What’s sad is that Christians can even turn a comforting truth like the sovereignty of God into a reason to be up tight.
One of the great principles of our Reformed tradition is God’s ultimate ownership and responsibility for everything that is.
· “All things come to us not by chance but by God’s fatherly hand” (Heidelberg Catechism, Question 27).
· “God has foreordained everything that happens” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Question 7).
This teaching is based on many Scripture passages, including Psalm 33:11, “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever,” and Ephesians 1:11, “(God) works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.”
One would think that such a perspective would lead to being laid back, willing to trust God to run his own world. Unfortunately, no. I’ve just being reading John Calvin’s 16th century “Ecclesiastical Ordinances” and other instructions over the weekend (isn’t that what everyone does to relax?) and he is anything but laid back. People are required to go church, and on time, or pay a fine. There’s also a fine for inviting someone to drink alcohol. Those who continue to attend Catholic mass or who dance are subject to imprisonment. There’s a whole list of offenses for which ministers can be defrocked or admonished. (My personal favorite: “susceptibility to flattery.”)
Why is that people who believe God is in charge think he needs so much help correcting how everyone else thinks and acts?
God is running things. I yield my gavel and my badge.
But if you read in this devotion an excuse for self-absorbed inactivity, or a rationale to keep your faith to yourself, that’s a misunderstanding as well. God is in charge, but I am also his hands, his feet, and his mouthpiece. The sovereignty of God is no justification for the passivity of ME!
The biblical balance (hard to maintain) is to do all I can, trust God that he’s in charge, and thank him for anything good (or bad, but that’s another subject).