As believers, we confess the glorious truth of the sovereignty of God. We confess that the world and everything in it is not a product of random chance, but of God’s sovereign will. He created it and by His providence He cares for it. And His providence includes all things that happen in heaven and on earth — nothing is excluded! From the hairs of our head to the sparrow falling in the forest, our God reigns over all things! Nothing is left to chance!
The answer to Heidelberg Catechism question 27, reads as follows, “The almighty, everywhere-present power of God, whereby, as it were by His hand, He still upholds heaven and earth with all creatures and so governs them that herbs and grass, rain and drought, fruitful and barren years, meat and drink, health and sickness, riches and poverty, indeed, all things come not by chance, but by His fatherly hand.”
Concerning the sovereign rule of God, the Scriptures declare:
*Isaiah 46:9-11: “Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure, calling a bird of prey from the east, the man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.”
*Ephesians 1:11: “God works all things according to the counsel of His will.”
*Daniel 4:35: “God does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.”
*Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.”
*Proverbs 16:33: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.”
*Psalm 115:3: “But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.”
*Psalm 103:19: “The LORD has established His throne in heaven and His kingdom rules over all.”
As Christians, this is our confession. However, the demonstration that our confession is genuine is found in a life of contentment. How we respond to our income, material possessions, setbacks and disappointments, sickness, death, weather, abundant crops, lean crops, is the loudest confession the world sees and hears. Contentment is demonstrated in our life when it is obvious to others that we truly believe we are in the hands of God at all times and in every situation.
Dear one, do you possess the grace of contentment? Do you experience the peace of God in every situation, which keeps you from the sin of complaining and murmuring against God’s providence? Are you known as a person who is satisfied with what God has given you, or do you constantly grumble and complain about your circumstances and what God has not given you? Let this Word of God ring loudly in our ears: “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU NOR FORSAKE YOU” (Heb. 13:5).
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry