As a church, we are busy doing the Disciplines of a Godly Man and Woman by R. Kent and Barbara Hughes in our men’s and ladies' meetings. These books are highly recommended! I had been reading the chapter on nurturing and I came across a quote by a prospective adoptive mother, Lois Krogh, who was about to receive a seventeen-year-old orphan into her home and family. All that she knew was what she had read on a Red Cross form. She knew that he had been exposed to the horrors of war, and not much else.
She writes, “[…] God has quieted my fears of the unknown with the continual reminder of His sovereignty and sufficiency. Instead of my natural disposition to worry and attempt to control my circumstances, God has thrilled my heart with the experience of knowing Him and seeing His control over all things. With joy and peace, we await His prepared gift, handed to us in His wisdom and love.”
This book is full of gems, but this quote has stood out to me repeatedly, and has been impressed upon me, for myself and for you. As I pray, my prayer is that you would know the sovereignty and sufficiency of our Father in heaven today.
His Sovereignty
I think that a defining moment in my Christianity has been knowing about the sovereignty of God over all things. It hasn’t always been an easy pill to swallow; for instance, I couldn’t understand why He hadn’t intervened when my mom passed away. There is something so comforting in knowing that God is in control and knows things far beyond my own understanding. I am a Type A personality, so I find that my default is to take many things on, to organize everything, to worry about everything. Yet to know that I can--and I am working on doing it more--trust in my Heavenly Father who knows all things, and who is working all things for my good, to take that burden and to shoulder that for me, I literally feel my shoulders sag with relief.
The thing about trusting the Lord with all our “things” is that He is a trusted, faithful Friend. We know that by placing our lives in His hands, they are safe. I am reminded of the parable of the talents, and how He expects return from us by using our talents to honour Him, and yet, He takes what is ours and multiplies and expands it for His glory. Even when we do not understand and the circumstances look bleak, as in Job’s life, He is multiplying Himself in us. Even when our physical, mental, emotional surrounds look bleak, He is forming Himself in us, teaching us to draw near to Him and to be more Christlike.
As a human parent, I don’t always put enough emphasis in my busyness on the “treasures” that my children entrust to my care--bugs, sticks, etc. I lose them, misplace them, drop them, and consciously get rid of them because I don’t want to “clutter up” my home. But God isn’t like that! He is the One who knows us best, Who knows the number of hairs on our heads, and yet calls each star by name. He knows every heartbreak of mine and every joy, every breath, and every tear. He cares so very much for you, Mama, for your family and your circumstances. We can trust Him with our whole lives. With all our dreams, our hopes, our disappointments, and our fears. He is far beyond human. He will not fail you.
Sometimes it may feel that He is working against you, or not working for you at all, but I have often found that when I feel like this it is because I have turned my focus inward. I have put too much emphasis on what is happening in my own life and haven’t placed my eyes on the Lord and on other people. Let me encourage us all to raise our eyes to our sovereign King again, and allow Him to lead us as He sees fit, knowing without a doubt that He loves us and wants what is best for us, even if that looks difficult and trying.
Where can I quieten my heart and trust in His sovereignty? We need to be in His Word, precious friends! Delve into the Psalms, rest in others' journeys of seeking and finding the Lord, watch how Joseph’s life was filled with setbacks and yet God was working and sovereign over it all, how He was sovereign over Mary and her pregnancy and life. Sovereign over all, from the nothingness in the beginning all the way to the triumphant end. Trust Him, friends . . . He is trustworthy. Spend time with Him, this will help us to depend on Him, as a Shepherd to His sheep, we will know His voice, trust His leading and know His goodness for us!
His Sufficiency
My prayer for all of us is that we will find our sufficiency in Him! Before anything that the world can offer us, everything that we long for this side of heaven is provided in Him! My prayer for us is that we will be so full of Him, that we would be so content in Him and filled with His Spirit, that we ooze everything that He is. Contentment is so beautiful. May we know His Peace, joy, hope, love, patience, gentleness, kindness, and self-control. He is the unending source of Living Water, and we can drink of Him daily, hourly, minute by minute!
However, his sufficiency doesn’t stop there! So many times on this faith journey, He has been so kind to provide for us in a plethora of ways: whether everything that I need has been on special at the shops, or generous friends and the church community have invited us for supper for many days in a row, when numbers have not added up in the way that we expected in a bank account and someone has generously given to us, my husband has landed a client just when we need it, the provision of the money for our adoption that we just didn’t have--the Lord has always provided for us. I often remind my children, that we may not have all that we want, but we definitely have all that we need, and more. One just has to look at many in our country who live, work and educate their children on far less than we are able to enjoy!
I am praying that you will surrender your finances and way of living to Him and that you will trust Him to be sovereign over it all, and that you will find your sufficiency in Him. And then, that He in turn will provide sufficiency in all your needs as you trust Him. As we also head into our election week in South Africa, I pray that our hearts will be steadied by the sovereignty and sufficiency of our Heavenly Father--He alone know all things, holds all things and allows all things.
We sang this song in church this morning, by Michael W Smith:
Your plans are still to prosper, You have not forgotten us
You're with us in the fire and the flood
Faithful forever, Perfect in love
You are sovereign over us
Even what the enemy means for evil
You turn it for our good,
You turn it for our good and for your glory
Even in the valley You are faithful
Youʼre working for our good,
Youʼre working for our good and for your glory
May you know His working in the fire and the flood, His hand over you in the mundane of life and in all the valleys and hills in between.
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