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yeah some other thoughts on that Mike he wouldn’t have sent his son to save us right when the scripture is say in 1 John 4 that God is love he is not only love but love is foundational to who he is so I would say if we take love out we don’t exist we’re not standing here today having a conversation about this if God doesn’t love right Exodus 34 in that foundational passage about who God is uh slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth so we recognize that our very survival depends upon this depends upon God’s love so how about this we have a god of love and a god who’s sovereign but not a god of wisdom what might that look like he loves us he has perfect control of all things he’s not quite sure what to do a little confused perhaps doesn’t always do doesn’t always do the right thing which is very contast contrary to the scriptures which say in Romans 16:27 he is the only wise God 1 Corinthians 1 talks about that the gospel is God’s wisdom and that Christ himself is God’s wisdom Colossians 2 tells us that in Christ are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and of course we know from Proverbs the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom so if we don’t have that we have a God who HS we have a God who who makes mistakes right I really want to think about that is is this is this the god that you believe in functionally right this is not the God who is but functionally do you believe this God God made a mistake here it’s funny I some of you know I’m a big uh Seinfeld fan and um there’s an episode where um a lot of things are going well for Jerry and he and reflecting upon that he says to George you know I used to think that life was just a series of random chaotic events but now I know that there’s a plan and purpose for all things to which George says and how does how does the baldness fit into that plan I ask myself that question too right um in another sequence it might have been in the same episode um uh George is mad at God were something bad that happened because I thought you didn’t believe in God well I do for the bad things right this is kind got right we have to believe in The God Who is right so God does not does not make mistakes how about this what we going here I may I may need to rely on you guys there we go how about a god of love and a god of wisdom but who’s not sovereign this is this is your main objection if you read the chapter at the beginning of the chapter what about that I think this is a more common belief that people have what might that look like mess a mess would you care to elaborate Leela because then we’re in control or we have the illusion of being in control we are not in control but we have the illusion yeah not sovereign then think yeah I am the master of my fate I’m the captain of my soul I don’t think so all evidence to the contrary on that one Steve you couldn’t have you couldn’t have fulfilled prophecy very practical that’s right that’s right um he would be watching things unfold as we are he doesn’t know what’s coming that’s a little scary there’s a particular heresy that I’m going to talk about with regard to that Dave it just introduces like another Force chance Randomness it’s like God tried but a Randomness yeah wasn’t able to do yeah and we think about all the ter this we really have to process this brothers and sisters because there’s some really terrible things that happen deeply damaging and hurtful things and we can either say God knew about that but couldn’t do anything about it which is really terrifying or right there’s a quote from the book right the implicit assumption in the minds of many this is on page 12 of your book is that if if God is both powerful and good why is there so much suffering so much pain so much heartache in the world God is either good and not all powerful or he is powerful and not all good you can’t have it both ways there’s a lot to work through here there’s a lot to work through here um Rabbi Kushner in his book when when bad things happen to good people which I think is a problematic title in and of itself I think we should be asking why do good things happen to bad people that’s a better question I think we think about what we deserve and what we get not to be trite about it but the reality of that shows that it’s amazing that it’s not worse really objectively and he says this um Kushner says this God wants the righteous to live peaceful happy lives but sometimes even he can’t bring that about wow it is too difficult even for God to keep cruelty and Chaos from claiming their innocent victims when the scriptures say is there anything too difficult for him and and and I think the intention of a lot of this because that this is one of the big questions that so many people have is the problem of evil and the sovereign of God we’re not going to solve all that today but I’m going to present some things that I I trust the Holy Spirit Will Will Enlighten to us I think what Rabbi Kushner and others the open theist will talk about those guys in a minute are trying to do is say God’s not responsible for evil they’re trying to get God off the hook in a sense and while I appreciate that in a sense because they don’t want to speak ill of God the testimony of the scriptures is that God’s sovereignty is much more pervasive much more comprehensive much more beautiful than that right he is in control um some of you may have heard of a heresy that I mentioned called open theism anybody understand or know what that is heard of that um there’s a pastor named Greg Boyd uh in Michigan in Minneapolis actually so he and John Piper you can imagine have some really interesting dialogues on this um open theism is the the idea that essentially teaches that there are multiple possibilities which can happen which God doesn’t know perfectly but he knows how to respond to them perfectly he’s like this AI machine like I don’t know what’s going to happen but I know it’s it’s like a chess chess game I know how to respond I don’t know what’s going to happen but I know how to respond to it when it does right and that kind of gets God off the hook for why do bad things happen and and I find this fascinating because it’s almost as if and I say this with some sarcasm that God knew that people would have these objections and so he speaks about it so explicitly and so repeatedly in his word the question is will we believe that Isaiah 46:10 is one example declaring the end from the beginning amazing and from ancient times things which have not been done saying my counsel will be established and I will accompl all my good pleasure the bottom line brothers and sisters is anything that happens happens because God knows it’s going to happen and he wants it to happen that is a hard truth to process but that’s what the scriptures tell us the question is is God in control that’s the title of our lesson today the answer is yes but we’ve got a lot to unpack about that so these present in uh seemingly insurmountable difficulties for us um but we will find in this series that God’s word is more than sufficient for all of it and I pray that God would just show us his Perfection and his Beauty uh as we unpack these things I don’t know if there’s another one of these guys but this is this is struggling there we go so yeah we’ll go back so yeah so if we have a God that’s not sovereign I think we see as we’ve unpacked a weak and ineffective God and that’s probably the greatest objection that we see in our in our world today um I’ll give an example so we think of uh in the gospels I can’t remember the reference where Jesus directly addressed the problem of evil I don’t if you recall this where he said what about and I think it’s two different occasions some of you might be able to help me with this where what about that tower that fell and all of these um where is it Mike Luke 13 thank you where all these people died what about what about them these seemingly innocent people do you remember what Jesus response was what was it Mike yeah yeah were these people more evil than anyone else but I say to you unless you repent you also shall perish that tells us a little bit about the purpose of why that happened to get our attention God is Not unjust God is Not unjust you hear that God is Not unjust so what we see with all three of those attributes working in perfect har Harmony The Rock his work is perfect for all his ways are just a god of faithfulness and without Injustice righteous and upright is he we may not be able to understand how that is but brothers and sisters we must Proclaim boldly that it is perfect perfect perfect as you drive home today that sovereignty that level of control might be challenged I know it will be for me right in the little things in the little things a little bit more on objections and all the inhabitants of the Earth are accounted as nothing but he does according to his will in the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of Earth and no one can strike against his hand or say to him what have you done right in the Heavenly Realms in the physical Realms he does his will he does his will even Satan does his will interesting it’s a lot to process there right and what do we do with that and this is a Romans 9 through1 so much there when we when we question these things who are you a man who answers back to the God will the thing molded say to the molder why did you make me like this right you ever find yourself saying or hear others say I could never worship a God who fill in the blank and often times that that fill in the blank is something that the scripture says he does or is I could never worship a God Like That you’re not worshiping God then because that’s who God is you’ve got to work that through you’ve got to work that through and what I love about this is this isn’t just you know this is Sovereign truth get on board it is but it’s so much more personal than that so much more pervasive than that um and so with that in mind let’s talk about God’s Providence God’s Providence so anyone have John Piper’s book on Providence it’s like a thousand pages you know I haven’t read all of it yet read maybe the first two chapters some of you may know that the the uh the story behind that book is that uh John Piper sought to write write a book on God’s sovereignty Providence was not supposed to be the title supposed to be a book on God’s sovereignty and the more he studied it he just was overcome by God’s goodness right his control is so so much for our good that he renamed it right many of the founders of this country recognize this whether they were a lot of them weren’t Christians but some of you may know this anyone remember how the Declaration of Independence ends with firm Reliance upon Divine Providence we sacrifice we sacrifice Our lives our fortunes and our sacred honor right I’m reading a book right now by Michael Medved called the American miracle and not to make too much of it but there are just a bunch of things that seem to be Beyond coincidence but you know what it’s not just for America I mean all things good or bad but there just seem to be some unusually providential things um particularly in the earlier years they’re a little challenged now I don’t think we’re in the Golden Age of America right now if I may be so bold as to say so but it was obvious even to unbelievers that there was there were things going on that were Beyond coincidence right because of God’s Providence a couple verses that explain this to us great is Yahweh and highly to be praised and his greatness is unsearchable let me just stop right there another way to translate that is his ways are Beyond finding out in other words we’re not going to fully understand all of it Ecclesiastes 3:11 I think says a similar thing he has said eternity in our hearts but yet so that we would not know what God has done from the beginning even to the end we’re limited right we’re not going to fully understand that so there’s a there’s that sense in which it’s unsearchable but there’s also a sense in which it’s inexhaustible and we’re learning more about it all the time and to me that’s very very exciting I can look back and say this thing where I just thought that maybe God wasn’t good or in control I look back and I say wow this thing that I would have done anything to reverse or not happen has done wonderful things in my life for me it’s it’s the death of my mom at the age of 47 you know you lose your mom at that age you I’ll do anything to get my mom back right she’s a Godly woman um but there are things that have happened in my life as a result of that that I needed I’ll talk personally about this for a minute I needed brothers and sisters to come alongside me and to unfold that for me and to help me to see the goodness of God in this series can we do that for each other as we learn about this can we encourage one another personally about God’s Providence so his greatness is unsearchable on the Glorious Splendor of your majesty and on the words of your wondrous Deeds I will Muse the eyes of all wait on you and you give them their food in due time you open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing Yahweh is righteous in all his ways and holy in all all his works so the idea of sovereignty is is Ultimate Providence is is Ultimate goodness take a look with me if if you’ll open your Bible Bibles of Psalm 104 and U and I encourage you to spend some time in this uh maybe after class or sometime during the week um like Psalm 145 it just uh unfolds for us the many ways that God is good just glance through it a little bit I’m not going to read the whole thing look how it begins bless Yahweh oh my soul oh Yahweh my God you are very great you were clothed with Splendor and Majesty he talks about his his Heavenly Majesty right um he founded the Earth right it talks about God’s sovereignty over Creation in verses 5-9 his sustaining power in verses 10 through1 13 right he he he sends forth water he he sustains life we see that all the way through verse 17 and and the animals um all of that right and and and um so many ways in which God provides for the animals for us for all living things in verse 31 let the glory of Yahweh endure forever let Yahweh be glad in his works right and even at the end let Sinners be consumed from the earth right even in his Justice God these are all the ways that God’s Providence is seen so we see God’s Providence in the good things but do we acknowledge it in the I want to say the bad things I’m we to say the Apparently bad things right it’s all about context right sometimes things are going on around us that would make sense if we knew just a little bit more of what was going on around it right this might inform how we process the news these days just a thought find out a little bit more what going on before you express an opinion might be really really helpful but beyond that over time some things are not even seen um until time some time has passed you oh that’s what was happening so we see God’s ultimate purpose and I remember in particular like a conversation we had had in small group about this where I think you you helped me to to process this in a wonderful way but God being rich in Mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions made us alive together with Christ by Grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come he might show The surpassing Riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus that is the ultimate purpose of creation so that what he would show off show off what The surpassing Riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ men and women that’s the whole point of what’s Happening that is an ultimate purpose statement now what needed to happen to make that possible man had to sin Christ had to die right as a kid as and as a recovering perfectionist I thought I was so as I as a young believer I was so mad at Adam I said life would be so much easier if he hadn’t sinned right I I’m not the only person who’s had this thought I’m not right and I’m just so angry and then you process wait a minute somehow in The Sovereign Providence of God that was in his plan because if that hadn’t happened we would not know this about God isn’t that that kind of blows your mind to think about that right what you intended for evil we see this with Joseph and his brothers God intended for good I hope you recognize in all this God’s purposes cannot be stopped they cannot be stopped right so and um I think it’s really helpful to think about so God is we have his ultimate goodness and we have his ultimate purpose and so I think when we process everything around us from this perspective that he would save people I think it settles us down a little bit right I remember during one of the the elections a couple years ago I could see guys are getting a little amped up about it you know I said guys what is the best what is the best scenario what’s the best outcome best best scenario and they’re kind of and we all have our opinions about that the best scenario honestly guys I’m not I’m not advocating passivity the best scenario is what ever happens because God is more committed to the advancement of the gospel than you and I I are and he knows what is needed for that now you do the right thing right in your conscience before God about that right but still you know not from the East nor from the West nor from the desert comes exaltation but God is a judge he sets up one and he puts down another so this is is God in control of that and so some of us have some things to process there right that might settle you down a little bit when you when you recognize that Jerry brsh says this God’s Providence is his constant care for and his absolute rule over all his creation for his own glory and the good of his people and I hope you saw that as an emphasis in the book his glory and our good are not in competition they do not fight against each other his glory is our good this is how awesome our God is our Glory isn’t our good right it’s not Glory as the scripture say for us to search out our own Glory right but for him to do it is our ultimate good our ultimate good I love this from the Westminster Confession of faith and I can’t pull off a Scottish accent but whenever I read this I hear it in a Scottish accent right um God the great creator of all things doth uphold direct dispose and govern all creatures actions and things from the greatest even to the least by his most wise and holy Providence according to his infallible forn knowledge and the free and immutable counsel of his own will to the praise of the glory of his wisdom power Justice goodness and mercy you see the word will there right um how many of you this is somewhat of a rhetorical question how many have had things in your life go not according to your plans uh there’s a movie which I find of a little mixed on it but Evan Almighty anybody seen that where he’s God tells him to build an ark and he’s interacting with the god character in Morgan Freeman and he looks at him this is I think really profound he looks at he looks at God in this case says you know know you’re messing with my plans bursts out laughing your plans right and I I think that’s how we can think about it what are our plans compared to his I am so glad that God accomplished his will according to his plan against my plan because that’s ultimately good for me and it’s good for you as well okay so that’s Providence I know we’re covering a lot today um let’s talk about God’s sustaining power God’s sustain any power first of all over the universe right he is before all things and in him all things hold together all things means all things you got to work through those implications all things the very particles of our body we are here and sustained by the will of God lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these Stars the one who leads forth their host by number he calls them all by name because of the greatness of his Vigor and the strength of his power not one of them is missing so um I’m not uh an astronomist uh but I almost wish that I was because these guys see things and can understand these things in ways that you and I can’t I think there’s a guy named Jason Lyle some of you might have heard of him used to be with um creation Ministries I think he’s got his own own thing now and he just unpacks things that are just incredible about what’s going on in the universe but God holds all of that together so I’m good with that right I can I can buy that he’s he’s sustaining the universe yeah of course well the scriptures also say that God sustains the Earth he is the one who covers the heavens with clouds the one who provides rain for the Earth the one who makes grass to sprout on the mountains who gives to the animals its food animal its food and to the young Ravens which call out we also saw this in Psalm 104 and Psalm 145 this is really clear right God has created everything and he sustains everything so he sustains the cosmos the universe he sustains the Earth let’s get a little bit more personal he also sustains you and me this is one of many verses that I find great comfort in Yahweh sustains all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down Psalm 19116 says sustain me according to your word that I may live and do not let me be ashamed of my hope I hope we’re personally aware and worship God for his sustaining us not just physically but in every way our our dependence upon Him is beyond what we can express you ever been in a situation where that it was really difficult and you say you know um I learned to be more dependent upon God and I understand what they mean it’s like no you were equally as dependent the whole way right without him we could do nothing that’s real but your realization of it grew through these circumstances we can scarely describe how dependent we are upon him so God and I and let’s worship him for that you know that he is sustaining us physically spiritually emotionally um I think you really see that in the Psalms there’s a lot of lament in the Psalms just desperation I can really relate to that I hope you can too like God God is really God is sustaining me I uh on a personal note you know thinking about some of the periods of deep anxiety and depression that I’ve had in my life I did not think that I was going to make it out of my 20s I did not uh either I would die from the stress or I would do something to take myself out I really I really thought that um and I look back at that and I’m I’m just I look at my life now and while it’s got plenty of difficulties I’m kind of amazed by it that I’m still here you know it is he who to sustains you from your youth even to your old old age you know um and I think about that as I think I had a birthday this past week I think about that oh I guess I’m old now um and God is obviously sustaining me so every moment of every day from the vastness of the universe to the minutest details of Our Lives God is sustaining us Psalm 35 says I lay down and slept I awoke for Yahweh sustains me you’re all here right you all woke up I hope you look like you’re awake why is that because God is sustaining you right now praise him for that praise him so God sustains God also governs right it’s more than just maintaining what’s going on it’s controlling what’s going on this is this is the this is the stuff that gets hard honestly and I and I don’t I don’t want to be TR about it I don’t want to be insensitive about it so if I am I invite you just to talk to me afterwards and just help me with that because I I can be insensitive and I don’t I don’t want to be Lamentations 3: 37-40 who is there who speaks and it happens unless the Lord has commanded it is it not from the mouth of the most high that both calamities and good go forth why should any living person or any man complain because of his sins let us search out and examine our ways and let us return to Yahweh do you see what’s happening here God gave us this verse not that we would complain against him but that we would examine our ways and repent and return that may sound like a hard truth depending on where you are today I don’t want to be insensitive right but God loves you so much that he wants this for you he wants the comfort of this to land in your heart and to be at peace and to not Fear the Future one of the things I love is um in Psalm 31 when it talks about the the woman of Excellence one of the things that she said says is she smiles at the future I don’t smile at the future I’ll be honest with you my wife Betty she smiles at the future praise the Lord you know and I don’t I don’t know what that’s like I Just Go With It praise the Lord you know do we anticipate that uh we recognized from earlier that he is the one and only Sovereign and he does according to his will uh in the heavens and on Earth and I think that histo in our historical moment this is harder to understand than it was maybe in past historical moments we don’t we don’t live in the days of kings and queens right we don’t have kings and queens it’s not yet anymore we might be headed there um but they were referred to as sovereigns right the king or the queen is s why was that because what the king or queen wanted was just done it was unquestioned people got that like yeah he’s the king she’s the queen yeah what they want happens and we’re not the question that because they are The Sovereign so I think maybe during those times it was a little easier for us to understand that with God right we live in a Democratic Republic where we get to push back and we should push back right that’s okay but God is but we don’t push back on the one and only Sovereign right we don’t we don’t do that we we express our laments right we we we cry out to him for help but we don’t qu question in the way of doubting his purposes once we start once we cross that line brothers and sisters we are in sin right and this challenges our faith I think we can go to God and say Lord I I know that you’re faithful I know that you’re good I don’t see it right now I’m having trouble seeing it help me that’s okay I’ve been there and and I’ll be there again I been there this morning I think so we ask ourselves what in the world is God doing doing Turn with me if you would to Psalm 33 one of my absolute favorites that talk about this what in the world is God doing God is Not passive in this world he is active um the alternative to that is a is a um uh a concept called deism right Thomas Jefferson and some others some of others of our Founders were outspoken deists where they fully conf affirmed that God created the world but that he wasn’t really involved in his day-to-day operation right he just kind of like a watch he just wound it up and let it go that’s a terrifying thought I think um if we look at what’s happening um look with me just a couple verses in in Psalm 33 for the word of Yahweh in verse four for the word of Yahweh is upright and all his work is done in faithfulness he loves righteousness and Justice the Earth is full of the loving kindness of Yahweh I think of that as because he loves righteousness and Justice the Earth must be full of his loving kindness because there’s not a lot of righteousness and Justice going on on Earth he must be kind by the word of the Yahweh the heavens were made and by the breath of his mouth all their hosts he gathers the Waters of the sea as a heap he lays up the deeps and storehouses let all the Earth fear Yahweh let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him for he spoke and it was done he commanded and it stood Yahweh nullifies the Council of the Nations he frustrates the thoughts of the peoples the Council of Yahweh stands forever the thoughts of his heart from generation to generation blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance he speaks and it happens he spoke all of this into existence right this is his power and he sustains it all right and he nullifies our counsel praise God that he does that if we stand against him he’s got to nullify that that’s a good thing that applies not only with Nations applies with us praise the Lord my plans did not my selfish plans my self-centered self- glorifying plans were nullified that’s a good thing that’s not just good for good for God’s glory that’s good for me that’s probably good for everybody else right it probably is and verse 13 it goes on Yahweh looks from Heaven he sees the sons of men from his place of habitation he gazes on all the inhabitants of of the earth he forms the hearts of them all he understands all their Works God sees all and he understands and he governs all and I think a great thing to think about in any situation is Lord what are you doing when you look at this crowd what do you see what what what purposes are you about and how can I align with those purposes it’s a very exciting way to live in any circumstance couple other verses to consider on this in Acts 17 so in Acts 17 on Mars Hill Paul expresses that uh God is so so worked so that men would fear him that they might seek and grope for him he’s orchestrated all things for that purpose that’s for unbelievers and then in Romans 8 he causes all things to work together for good to those who love him called according to his purpose that purpose being that we would be conformed to His Image so on a macro level God is orchestrating all things so that unbelievers would seek him and that Believers would become like him that’s what all of this is about that’s what all of it is about and so I think when we we really think about that one we can be reassured that it is happening and secondly we can get on board with those purposes and know that God’s purposes are always accomplished amen amen all right now we get into our little bit of our pessim we switch gears to get a little bit pessimistic here this is going to be fun is is is it God or is it chance right um I love this quote you should View and plan for the inevitability of Crisis some of you know that I’m uh a project and program manager as in my vocation so risk management is important right what’s the worst that can happen is important for me to process and to list the risks the potential outcomes and how we mitigate those risks as thorough as we are in that we can’t think of everything we’re always surprised by something why because anything that can go wrong will go wrong as Murphy has taught us I think that’s a maybe a bit of an exaggeration but sometimes it feels not only like this but like this Murphy was an optimist right some of you know this ools Corel corollary or commentary right um life can sometimes feel like this right but brothers and sisters it is all going according to plan I’ll I’ll even go a step further and say in spite the many mistakes and sins that we commit we cannot for that now there’s something to think about I’ll get into that a little bit how do I process my sins and my mistakes in light of all this to me that’s the hardest the hardest thing Isaiah 45 5-7 this is this is high voltage this is this is really really direct and very um very powerful for us I am Yahweh and there is no other besides me there is no God I will G you though you have not known me that they may know from the rising to the setting of the Sun that there is no one besides me I’m Yahweh and there is no other the one forming light and creating Darkness producing peace and creating Calamity I am Yahweh who does all these I used to be offended by the phrase Act of God it’s a actually a a legal phrase in insurance right certain acts of God and by that they don’t mean good things right they mean tragedies floods earthquakes fires I used to be offended that would be called an act of God God says no no no let me solve this for you I did that wow okay we have to just we have to absorb that we have to we have to feel the weight of that God says there’s no mystery here let me just solve it for you I did that question is why he did it right now hopefully with some of the things we’ve talked about earlier what God’s purposes are that gives you some comfort in them so why God does things specifically is not always known to us right but that he does them is certain I think we got to really process this this past week we celebrated the anniversary of 9/11 right does anybody know anyone who died in the Twin Towers you do yeah I I don’t know anyone who did but I have friends who got out and left co-workers behind and and just the devastation and I know one a former boss of mine um absolutely railed against Christianity and against Christians because of this how can you believe in a God who would do that right acknowledging in one sense that God either did that or could have prevented it right you believe in a God and who’s powerful right you could have prevented that right wow there’s a lot of process there right and then you you’ve heard you heard some Christian so-called leaders say well God that was God’s judgment on America for homosexual ity for abortion and I thought to myself how could you know that maybe so the why we can’t Proclaim that that’s very presumptive of us but that he did it yeah and and we’ve got to be we’ve got to sensitively believe that and walk walk that through with people you know um I I was recently at the 911 memorial I don’t want to take a a lot on this and uh I thought it was just really well done in terms of uh commemorating the lives of those who who passed it was very very moving and what good comes out of that that we value life that we value our relationships you don’t know who we’re going to see today or tomorrow right um some good things good things can come out of and and just in terms of us being just wise uh about our security you can argue if we’ve done everything right or not yeah probably not but but there’s there’s things that we we can process there yeah Luke 13 yeah unless you what forget about that what about you right if unless you repent you also will perish and so that at the very least on a macro level if you looked at that God’s design for that is the Salvation of people because despite how we would say we wouldn’t do it that way he is a good good God one of the things too we um we hear you ever hear someone say well God has chosen to limit his sovereignty in certain situations I don’t think you can support that just with the couple verses that we’ve seen here limit it’s so much more than you think so for example this whole battle God’s will Free Will of humans well God limits his sovereignty with people I’m I’m glad he didn’t limit his sovereignty with me I’m glad he transformed my heart so that I would seek Him the chapter on God’s sovereignty over people will really help you with this that chapter in this book probably more than any other just moved me just propelled me into reformed theology like oh that’s how God works he doesn’t manipulate our Wills he changes our hearts oh well that’s a level of sovereignty that I hadn’t really thought about incredible all right uh just to share a personal thing with you this this is a devotional that has meant a lot to me uh over the years it’s a a book called 31 days of Praise I’m just going to read this quote and it’s a prayer to God I praise you for your sovereignty over the broad events of my life and over the details with you nothing is accidental nothing is incidental and no experience is wasted you hold in your own power My Breath of Life and my all my destiny and every trial that you allow to happen is a platform on which you reveal yourself showing your love and power both to me and to others looking on thank you that I can move into the future non-defensively with hands outstretched to whatever lies ahead for you hold the future and you will always be with me even to my old age and through all eternity nothing is accidental nothing is incidental no experience is wasted do you believe that the hardest ER of my life to believe God’s sovereignty is over the stupid things that I’ve done and the sins that I’ve committed I am just absolutely my and as you get older your regrets can just pile up right this is my area of struggle over go of God’s sovereignty and you can see if we really think about it there’s a lot of pride in that honestly but it’s hard I really blew it in this situation I really hurt somebody where’s God’s sovereignty in that well it is there and it’s a process of discovery as to how that works if nothing else it’s an opportunity for us to demonstrate repentance to people and humility right you really blow it with someone someone will say well I I I did this thing I blew my testimony no you didn’t if you if you didn’t if you didn’t apologize and ask for forgiveness you did but if you did you just you’ve just shown them the gospel this is how Sovereign God is you realize this right your sins can be a gospel opportunity with people that’s pretty sovereign pretty good all right let’s wrap up um good but not sovereign we talked about this right is God frustrated and unable to help right we process these things through the truth of God’s word not our own perspectives it’s a great quote from the book all people Believers as well as unbelievers experience anxiety frustration heart a disappointment some suffer intense physical pain and catastrophic tragedies but that which should distinguish the suffering of Believers from unbelievers is the confidence that our suffering is under the control of an all powerful and all loving God our suffering has meaning and purpose in God’s Eternal plan and he brings or allows to come into our lives only that which is for His glory and are good how would others who don’t know God see the goodness of God without him seeing his sustaining power as as we go through incredibly difficult things how would they see the goodness of God unless they see up close his sustaining power in us and our faith grow if it’s going well we’re just you know if we’re just proclaiming him when things are going well I don’t know that that’s a strong testimony Cliff did you have something I thought you raised your hand okay you understand this right and and and and I think we’re we’re we’re starting to realize this is how Sovereign God is Jody I was thinking of Daniel yeah yeah elizabth YN yeah D Daniel glor you know God saved them in the trial right um what you just said jod reminds me look with me if you would at Colossians 1 something you may not have considered and this is um how God’s Supernatural power will be revealed in our lives Colossians 1 starting at verse 9 this is why my next Bible will be an indexed Bible so I can be quicker starting in um at the end of verse 10 bearing fruit in every good work and multiplying in the full knowledge of God being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience God’s glorious Supernatural strength is seen in US dealing with difficult situations difficult people let me wrap up somewhat quickly here some of you know this quote from Spurgeon right there’s no attribute more comforting to his children than that of God’s sovereignty under the most adverse circumstances in the most severe trials they believe that sovereignty has ordained their afflictions that sovereignty overrules them and that sovereignty will sanctify them there is nothing for which the children ought more earnestly contend to contend than the doctrine of their Master overall creation the kingship of God over all the works of his own hands the Throne of God and his right to sit upon that Throne it is God upon the throne that we love to preach it is God upon his throne that whom we trust let’s be living examples of this right in our in our personal lives um we’re almost out of time but just a couple couple questions for us to think about of God’s love wisdom and sovereignty which do you most struggle to trust and why I’m sorry we don’t have much time to interact on that but I would venture to say probably sovereignty right generally is the one struggle with people struggle with most but does God really love me yeah doubt that sometimes is God really wise is he really doing the best thing you know what is the ultimate purpose of God’s sovereignty we’ talked about that right it’s the salvation of people and the sanctification of Believers the goal is Christ himself there’s no greater goal than that and I don’t mean to be trite there’s a lot of implications of this but focusing on that I think Will Comfort us and direct how we respond right if I want to be healthy wealthy and wise I’m going to be frustrated but if I want to be like Christ I’m like I’m going to think oh this is this is what do I need to learn through this so that I become more like Christ um and in what areas of God’s sovereignty do you struggle most to trust and the reason I say that is because we’re going to be spending the next I think five weeks on God’s sovereignty over this area this area I I was amazed by it you know I was blessed to grow up with a high view of scripture and a high view of the sovereignty of God but I was blown away by these chapter chapters and just how comprehensive how perfect and how personal God sovereignty is so um stick with us on this journey it’s going to be a lot of fun father God we praise you for your sovereignty and are you in control yes yes yes yes perfectly in control bringing trials in our lives so that the proof of our faith more precious than gold may be seen by the world I give great glory to you father help us to submit to this not just in a raw soulless way but in a way that we respond in amazement in love and worship for God who is perfectly in control give us Grace to do that as this will be challenged for us in the battle in the next few weeks help us to listen to you well and to help one another through this in Jesus name amen thank you e