Either Or

The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. 

Psalm 33:11

 

If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.

 James 4:15

God is either sovereign, or He is not. There is no middle ground.

Suffering taught me that. I learned it on a dark night when I wasn’t sure of the morning. When I wasn’t sure what this wild God of mine would demand of me next. Would my son live or die? Would the child I prayed for with tears be taken back by the One who gave him?

It is easy to believe in God’s sovereignty, His complete control over all that happens, when things are going well. But what about when a young man only months from graduation learns he has a terminal, cancerous brain tumor? When a loving Christian father of four children dies in a plane crash fighting forest fires? When a missionary kid is cruelly bullied to the point of suicide?

In the furnace of doubt, when bad things happen to good people and prayers seem to go unanswered, the question bids me decide.

Will I trust Him?

Jerry Bridges, in his gem of a book Trusting God, says this:

Confidence in the sovereignty of God in all that affects us is crucial to our trusting Him. If there is a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God’s sovereign control, then we cannot trust Him. His love may be infinite, but if His power is limited and His purpose can be thwarted, we cannot trust Him. 

Trusting God, by Jerry Bridges, p. 25

Though I may wrestle, though I may sob until my voice fades and no tears remain, I must come to a solid conclusion about God’s sovereignty. Is He sovereign, nor is He not? Is His power unlimited, His purposes immovable even in the face of unthinkable sorrow?

Job made his decision:

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.

 Job 13:15

Paul made his decision:

That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

 2 Timothy 1:12

Jesus made His decision:

My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.

Matthew 26:42

What will our decision be?

We can put this down as a bedrock truth: God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good.

– Trusting God, by Jerry Bridges, p.62

I am sure of this: my God brings light out of darkness, water out of the rock, joy out of mourning, and life out of death. If we are to suffer, let it be in the hands of the sovereign One who loves us, who has the power to raise the dead, and set captives free. 

He can be trusted.

Lord, I will trust You. Amen.

@audreycfrank