The Dilemma of Sovereignty

I’ve heard Martha often say about sovereignty, “Everything in the world is exactly how it should be, or God would change it. And He can, He is God!” She references Romans 8:28.

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
(NASB)

Sovereignty – God is in Control

I’ve walked with Martha for 20 years now. I’ve learned many things from the Lord through her, but one of my major lessons has been God is in control and I am not. As a child of God, a son of the Father, and a citizen of the Kingdom, I have very little control over life events. Sure, I have free will and can run roughshod over my life, but at the end of the day, God’s sovereignty trumps all. The reality is that He is sovereign, and sovereign means sovereignty over everything. I may maintain an illusion of dominion over life, but what I find is I am vulnerable to, as well as protected by, His sovereignty.

The Word says that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who LOVE Him. What it does not say is that God will work together everything so it makes me happy. Sovereignty is a hard pill to swallow if you have not surrendered your life to the Lord. And even after you have, it’s no cakewalk.

For the child of God, sovereignty is safety. But many function as if they were God’s only children, demanding and declaring an illegitimate power over everything. Yet the true child of God is at the mercy of His Will and grace. This reality makes me safer than I’ve ever been in the entire course of my life but also more dependent on and vulnerable to His goodness.

Sovereignty and Sonship

This is why I believe that sonship and sovereignty work in conjunction. Only a son can truly accept His Father’s sovereign will. And actually there are not many sons, but one Son, with one body incorporating many members. Only One mind embraces the sovereign plan of God. Sure I can comply with God’s will, but to accept and embrace His sovereign choice? That comes from another Life. Sovereignty is the Will of the Father and accepting it is in the Life of the Son.

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 TLB

The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; The Lord is robed, enveloped in strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken.
Psalms 93:1 HCSB