God is sovereign! He calls the shots!
Many believers have the mistaken notion that prayer is about getting God to do what we want. We come to the Father with our ‘grocery list’ of requests, wants, and demands, and expect to receive them ‘by next week’!
Where did we learn such a twisted version of the truth? Mostly from listening to our fellow believers pray.
Trouble is that we not only pray like that but we also live like that. We engage in many activities without any consultation with or direction from the Father, and then expect Him to bless our plans or fix what goes wrong.
Take the Christian woman, for example, who marries an unbeliever and then expects God to save her husband when she has disobeyed His instructions and the marriage becomes a war zone.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 NLT
[14] “Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? [15] What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can a believer be a partner with an unbeliever?”
What about believers who ignore the instruction to abstain from sex outside of marriage and to remain faithful to their spouse in marriage?
Hebrews 13:4 NLT
[4]”Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.”
The excuse that an engaged couple can behave like marriage partners because they will be getting married anyway, is no excuse for disobedience. A baby conceived outside marriage is not God’s fault and will not, somehow, go away.
The same principle applies in the business world. A believer cannot expect God to prosper a business partnership with an unbeliever in direct contradiction to His instructions. Trouble is that, when conflict happens or the business fails, God is either blamed or called in to fix the problem.
When we drag our old nature’s way of self-sufficiency and independence into our new life in Christ, we forget that we have died to the old life and begun a new life of submission and obedience to Jesus as Lord.
Romans 10:9 NLT
[9] “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Salvation is not only about sins forgiven and a new destiny in heaven. Salvation is about the restoration of God’s original intention for His human family. Life here and now, on this fallen planet with all its wicked people, is a preparation for living in that realm forever where God reigns.
1 Corinthians 15:24-25 NLT
[24] “After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power. [25] For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.”
Jesus reigns on earth right now, sovereign and supreme over everything and everyone but… those who refuse to acknowledge His authority, defy His every instruction to their own destruction and will face His wrath on judgment day.
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 NLT
[7] “And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, [8] in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. [9] They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power.”
What is God’s passion for those whom He has rescued from this self-destructive independence that dogs our way, day and night? He desires a union with Him so close and intimate that we function in tandem with Him and His will and ways, just as Jesus did.
John 8:28-29 NLT
[28] “So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I Am he. I do nothing on my own but say only what the Father taught me. [29] And the one who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me. For I always do what pleases him.”
1 John 4:17 NLT
[17] “And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.”
How did Jesus live in this world? He loved the Father so much that He refused to do anything on His own. Every test the devil threw at Him was an attack on His oneness with the Father. “Do it your way!” was his taunt. Jesus’ response showed the devil His determination to guard His unity with the Father and to live under the authority of His Word.
Luke 4:4, 8, 12 NLT
[4] But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone.’ ”…
[8] Jesus replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’ ”…
[12] Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’ ”
Near the end of a very difficult life, assaulted from every direction, friend and foe, by attacks on His claim to be the Son of God, Jesus steadfastly trusted the Father and obeyed His Word, even to His final breath.
Surely, then, we are to become like Jesus since God chose Him to be the prototype, the blueprint for all His children.
Romans 8:29 NLT
[29] “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
How does God train us to be His sons and daughters? Wait for it….!
SUFFERING!
Yes, the very things we hate and from which we shrink – hardship, discipline, suffering, weakness, problems, trials, and difficulties are all God’s way of destroying our independence.
You see, our trust in God is of paramount importance to Him. Mistrust is the worst insult we can throw at God. Faith is our only link with Him in the spiritual realm. When we do our own thing, we are telling God we don’t need Him. He responds by leaving us to go it alone and take the consequences.
So, every trial and struggle we endure tells us two things…
You are weak…
You need God…
He will continue to test our faith in Him until the day we die. The quicker we ditch our stubborn independence and learn to partner with Him, the less we will have to endure the tough tests that help us to know where we are on this journey to the Father.
God has pledged to finish what He started, not what we start. Trust Him.
Philippians 1:6 NLT
[6] “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”