God's sovereignty is manifest in bestowing much wealth and honor upon some, and not to others that work harder. He abases some, elevates others, enriches some and others are impoverished.
Some labor to no profit and others sit and what they wish for falls into their lap. One lives in a palace and the other a cottage. One holds a scepter and another a spade. One wears rich clothes and another rags. “The rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the Maker of them all.” (Proverbs 22:2)
Just as God can “send rain on one city, and send no rain on another city” He can also cause “one field would have rain, and the field on which it did not rain would wither” (Amos 4:7)
He can dispose of the goods of every person, even take away from one, and pass over the propriety to another. He can reduce those who are high to a low condition and advance those lowly ones to plenty and glory.
The sovereign acts of God mean, “For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up, but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.” (Psalm 75:6–7) If He dispenses benefits equally to all, I would soon think it my due. The inequality and changes preserve the notion of God’s sovereignty, and correct my natural unmindfulness of it. If there were no changes, God would not be feared as the “King of all the earth.”
Not only all this, but I am not given His reasons for what He does. The disciples asked Jesus about His time for restoring the kingdom to Israel, and He replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:6–8) In other words, do what He tells me to do now and forget trying to know what God has for the future.
God could have created the world in a moment. He could have delivered His people from Egypt without the plagues. He could have transformed me to the image of His Son the instant He saved me. He could have given me all I need to change my world, but He did not. He could have me living where I am now from the beginning, but. . . .
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place. (Acts 17:26)PRAY: Dear Lord, all these are reminders that You do as You please and seldom give me a head’s up that allows me to walk by sight or vision instead of faith. I have no idea if my life will end today or in ten or twenty years. But I do know that You have a plan and all of it is Your glory and for my good. Enable me not only to trust You, but be joyfully content with not knowing anything but the next step You want me to take.
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