Posts Tagged: the sovereignty of God
“Beginning the Year with God: God’s Nearness or Resignation?”
I had a look at one of my favorite commentators on the book of Proverbs, Christine Roy Yoder, who wrote the following helpful comments:
Whereas mortals have the capacity and responsibility to plan their “way” . . . , God is proximate—God approves or redirects each step (the conjunction may be translated as “and” or “but). The proverb may be interpreted as a comforting reminder of God’s nearness and sovereignty, a matter-of-fact acknowledgement of human limitations, or, more cynically, as a sigh of resignation (cf. 20:24; Jer 10:23).[1]
So, how am I going to take this verse as a guide to the new year? A sigh of resignation may be appropriate at times, but I think it would be better for me to take this proverb as a reminder of God’s nearness and sovereignty and as an acknowledgement of my limitations.
If I acknowledge my limitations, that will help me not to have to be so perfect all the time. Frankly, my progress is impeded much more by my desire for perfection, than by my obvious imperfections. It has been said that “the good is the enemy of the best.” Yes, I suppose that is true. However, for me at least, there is another, even more important truth: The perfect that I can’t achieve is the enemy of the good that I can achieve. If I accept my limitations, that does not take away my drive to be better. Quite the contrary! It is accepting my limitations that empowers me to do well.
And, of course, being reminded of God’s nearness and sovereignty helps to counter my tendency to worry and want to control. There is an old story that goes something like this: “Good morning! This is God. I will not need your help today. So relax and have a nice day!”
Might work! And what
works for one day probably would work for the entire year of 2020 as well.
[1] Christine Roy Yoder, Proverbs, Abingdon Old Testament Commentaries (Nashville: Abingdon, 2009), 184.
“The Powerlessness of Success”
“We are just as powerless over
our successes as we are over the worst of our behaviors. We can only be
faithful to our duties and ourselves. The successes, which flow from our work,
come and go. Since we can’t nail them down, they may make us feel insecure.
Many a man has destroyed his moment of success because he couldn’t stand the
powerless feeling. We must return to our program and allow success to rise and
fall, as it will.
Today, I turn to my Higher Power for help in accepting success.” (Touchstones: A Book of Daily Meditations
for Men)
I don’t always handle failure well. I am generally about as unsuccessful at handling success. Let me explain.
One of my favorite Paul Simon songs is titled “Something So Right.” It could be the theme song for my life.
“When something goes wrong
I’m the first to admit it
I’m the first to admit it
But the last one to know
When something goes right
Well it’s likely to lose me
It’s apt to confuse me
It’s such an unusual sight
I can’t get used to something so right
Something so right”
I have known for quite some time that I don’t handle successes well. I had never thought about why. I think that this Hazelden reading hit the nail squarely on the head: Successes make me feel out of control.
But the deeper problem is not success, or feeling out of control, or even being out of control. No, the problem is wanting to be in control in the first place, and thinking that I should be. This has plagued me since the Garden of Eden.
So, here is the deal: I need to give up the illusion that I am or ought to be in control. But how do I do that? Giving up anything—even illusions—is not easy. Giving up the illusion of control makes me feel very out-of-control.
Perhaps I need to pull out an old theological idea from my mental attic: the sovereignty of God. The Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, indicate that ultimately, God is the One who is in control. The Bible affirms this bizarre notion, even as the Bible portrays the importance of human choice. And, of course, the Bible also portrays how often we screw up and choose foolishly. (If you think that the Bible tells us the way things should be, in some perfect world, you haven’t read the Bible. Perhaps the first two chapters and the last chapters do that, but there’s a lot of other really awful stuff in the 1185 chapters between those four chapters.)
If I think more and count more upon the sovereignty of God, I can relax a little. Perhaps then, neither failures nor successes will mess with my mind quite as much. Sometimes, I start my day with the following confession: God is God, I am not, and that is good. That is a good confession, no matter what the day throws at you, whether that be failure or (God forbid!?) success.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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