First, let me get one thing clear.
I am not a fan…….of New York City.
Sure, it has a lot of great theaters and museums. But, it is noisy, dirty, crime-ridden, and way too full of people, many of whom are just not nice. I’d rather spend a day in my backyard.
Now, imagine that you are sitting down to breakfast with your 12 year old son. Jesus appears to you. He tells you to take your son to Times Square……….and kill him.
That would never happen, you say. And yet, that is exactly what happened to Isaac. Isaac loved his son. He had plans for his son. He would do anything to protect his son. And then, God showed up with God’s plan for Isaac’s son.
Kill him.
Our plan……..God’s plan.
Things are just fine when the two plans agree. But, what about when they don’t agree? It all comes down to one simple question:”Who is in charge here?”
It all comes down to sovereignty, a word we don’t hear much in our modern society. Even worse, we don’t recognize its validity. We live in a secular humanist culture where we are at the top of the pyramid. We are sovereign. If someone tells us something. The very first thing that we ask ourselves is, “Do I agree with this…….. do I like this?”
What is the most hated thing that a child hears from his parent?
“Because I said so!”
What is a very common reply from the child?
“You are not the boss of me!”
Sovereignty…….who is in charge here.
Christianity says God is sovereign. Secular humanism says I am sovereign. We talk a good line about following God. But, what if God walked up to you and said, “Sell everything, go to Africa, and wait for further instructions.” What would you do? Your answer will define your understanding of sovereignty. Your answer will define your commitment to the sovereignty of God. Quite frankly, I find this terrifying. The “African scenario” drove me away from Christianity for decades. It drove me away from Jesus because I was not willing to relinquish my sovereignty to God. I was not willing to put God’s plan ahead of mine.
I still struggle with sovereignty. God is probably not going to ask you to kill your child. But, what if an illegal showed up at your door and asked for a place to stay for a night or two?
God is sovereign……..full stop…….end of conversation.
If…….when……he does something that we don’t like…..God is sovereign. If…….when……he asks us to do something that we don’t want to do……God is still sovereign. We need to get comfortable with this idea now.
We will spend eternity experiencing it.
All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
Daniel, 4:35, ESV
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job, 1:21, ESV