Only a ‘need to know’ policy…

 

A servant in a palace knows that all things in that place belong to its owner. None of it belongs to the servant who is charged to take care of it. In the household of God, I am a servant. He owns all things, some of which I’m given to use or take care of. This dominion or ownership of God means I need to yield all things to Him.

Charnock extends this to say that because I am under His authority, if something happens that causes me concern, I need to not pressure Him with why is this happening. Instead, I must humbly lay my cause at his feet, and say: “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.” (1 Samuel 3:18) After all, all is His.

That includes His to-do list. I don’t get to see it, only my part in it. That means He seldom shows me why my prayers can mean a long wait for His action. I can get impatient, as if the Monarch of the world should jump to it for me? This is getting it backwards, as if the King of kings should lay down His scepter to gratify my demands. This displays my pride, vanity, and totally selfish thinking.

The dominion of God would stop my vain curiosity too. One example was when Peter wanted  to know the fate of John. Jesus said to him: “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” (John 21:22)

This means that I am to consider my duty, and lay aside my curiosity since it is God’s decision to not reveal many things to me. As Charnock says, the sense of God’s absolute dominion would silence many vain disputes in the world. What if God will not reveal this or that? He does not tell me all His mind, only that what I need to do what He wants from me. Yielding to His sovereignty means letting Him be God and make all decisions known or remain a mystery. I’m not to spend time and energy prying into or speculating about matters that are unknown to me by His choice. I’m to just trust Him.

This kind of yielding is about faith and about how pitiful I am compared with God's excellency and the great distance between Him and me. The more I think of His greatness, the less I’m concerned with myself, and the more apt I am to fall before Him in praise instead of impatience, vain curiosity, or selfish demands:

He is to be praised for his royalty Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm! (Psalm 47:6–7)

His goodness calls for my thankfulness, but his sovereignty calls for a higher elevation of it. Goodness is felt and appreciated on this end, while sovereignty calls for glory to God, regardless of how I feel or am blessed. Why should such a great God care about me anyway? Or offer me blessings? Or answer my prayers?

But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. (1 Chronicles 29:14)

PRAY: These thoughts impact my prayers to You. Yesterday, more surgery for our granddaughter and a heavy heart. I could scarcely think of her situation without fear and tears. Yet Your whispers came through. You are God. You are good. You do what brings You glory as You alone deserve it. Putting my focus on Your greatness and Your dominion over all things, even an infected and serious injury, changed my thinking. You will do what is right. My anxiety was focused on the lie that You do not want the best for Your people. If You decide to take her home, that is because of Your goodness, not because You don’t love or care for her or for her family. We are the servants but also Your children, and You work on behalf of Your family for our good. For this, I am joyful and now wait to see what You have planned — for Your glory.

Later: the operation eased her pain and brought her much joy. Thank You, Lord!

All Things . . .

READ Ephesians 1–6

A neighbor related her belief in the sovereignty of God with such fervor that her deep conviction convicted me. How can I doubt Him when He is able to “order all things” and made His will secure? Today’s reading begins with those words:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, (Ephesians 1:7–11)

Ephesians is a favorite NT book, yet this morning I was so intrigued by those two words that I did a quick search and found enough to fill another book! “All things” appears 86 times in the ESV Bible, possibly more in the original languages. Many of those references are about the sovereign power of God.

For instance, in the OT, Genesis 24 begins with, “ . . . And the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.” In 2 Samuel 23, He is said to “order all things” and 1 Chronicles 29 says “all things” come from Him, therefore whatever we offer to Him is really His in the first place.

Job declares, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2) and the Psalms say He puts “all things” under our feet, yet all things are His servants, not ours. Other passages speak of God who made “all things.”

The NT adds more of the same. Jesus said, “ . . . with God all things are possible” and of Jesus the crowds said, “He has done all things well.”

Significantly, Jesus said in Gethsemane: “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36) God gave “all things” into the hands of Jesus. He has the power to do “all things” yet yielded that power to the will of God. This is the attitude God wants me to have concerning His sovereignty. I am powerless without Him, yet His power is available to me — but never apart from His will.

Romans 8 is well-known for two thoughts about all things. One is: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (8:28) The next verse reveals that the good purpose God speaks of is not health, wealth and comfort, but about being more and more like Jesus — including His submission to the will of God rather than doing whatever He wanted to do (Note, none of His will was sinful!)

The second thought is this: “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (8:32) And these two verses are connected . . . the “all things” God gives us relate to the purpose of the “all things” He uses. That is, He wants me to have “all things” that will produce in me the image of His Son. If anything does not do that, He does not want it, and neither should I. As Paul says, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything.” (1 Corinthians 6:12)

At least one more NT truth is expressed using this term:

God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8)

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence. (2 Peter 1:3)

No matter what God asks of me, He will supply what I need to do it.

There are many more verses about “all things”— I could write a book! However, for today, I’m relying on God’s supply to give me what I need to do the things He puts on my heart to do, and rejoice in the fact that the He is my God — my source and resource for all things! Amen.