By Pastor Mike
Faith in God’s Sovereignty
Faith in Christ as we walk through this life can easily be mistaken for optimism. Don’t misunderstand, faith is not some worldly pie-in-the-sky glee. It is instead, a thoughtful confidence that our God is in charge of everything in our lives and his sovereign purpose for us will prevail.
The words of Romans 8:28 (“God works all things together for good”) are not a license to live recklessly, but a reminder that the twists in the road “for those who love him” are adjustments that God has ordained to take us where he intends. We can be confident that God not only “called us according to his purpose” but he is actively using a variety of means to accomplish it.
Where does that leave us? Looking pretty optimistic! We love him, he directs our lives and we entrust the outcome to him. So shun the temptation to fret or complain, and keep trusting our King!
Thank you for this reminder, PMike! Um, I was QUITE distracted, though, by that HILARIOUS picture! It conveys exactly what faith doesn’t necessarily look like. He doesn’t look “thoughtfully confident” but instead, like he is trying to muster up some happiness which we know is not promised. Thank you for all you do!
Thank you Pastor Mike for such words of wisdom. It has been an honor to be able to “see” God’s will played out in my own life. It is a great thing to be able to “look back” and see how God used specific situations and circumstances to accomplish what He wanted accomplished. It is great to go through such pruning and be able to stand tall thanking God for ALL things, even the painful things! What is even better than that is to trust and know that God is in control of all things in my life, and my dependancy is on Him not on self! While being an active participant in His plan is a blessing, it has also enabled my trust and faith to grow in ways I could not have imagined. Wow! What peace we have as His children!
This truth of God’s sovereignty is SUCH a blessing to me in my life. I wish I could say I never gripe, whine or complain, but God’s certainly continuing to refine me while I work in that area. When I contemplate the truths of God’s power over every aspect of my life, I am able to be still and rest in the assurance with peace and confidence–so nice! By the way, I echo Shawna’s sentiment–that photo is hilarious!
Mike,
First let me say I’m in complete agreement w sentiments above (or below) by Shawna, Marci & Chiara. Good company breeds good fellowship!
A. “So shun the temptation … and keep trusting our King!” Never been a British subject and about the only exposure to the monarchy I ever had was John, Paul, George, and Ringo. Hence my problem with trusting the King (unless, of course you are referring to Elvis). Yes, Jesus is my Lord and Savior and my loooong, strange journey has been around this centerpiece for the past 45 years. Regrets? I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention (oops! Slipped into a Frank Sinatra mode. Forgive me). Jesus as CEO, now there’s a notion I can more readily embrace because I had a 26-year stint as an aerospace executive.
So monarchies and kings aside I assume it is proper to get our arms around Jesus at the point where we can most genuinely identify with Him and let the Holy Spirit take us from there.
B. By now you have probably reviewed the tape on Greg Koukl’s Columbo presentation. Great stuff. Had everyone that I observed in the 11:30 a.m. session rivited. I trust (& prayed) you came across an equal blessing to those at John Mc Arthur’s church.
God Bless you & your family.