This morning, our dog Sugar was barking and growling like crazy for no apparent reason. We tried to calm her down, but then we began to hear the noises of many emergency vehicles. It seemed as though the sirens were numerous, and their wails grew louder and louder. They didn't die away naturally either. Instead the fire engines and ambulances stopped at the end of the road that we live off, about a quarter of a mile away. School was interrupted by lots of questions and hullabaloo of course, and as I looked up into the sky through the window I noticed a huge column of smoke. The air outside our house was filled with smoke when we ran outside to investigate, and when my Mom went down the street a bit, she discovered that one of our neighbors' homes was engulfed in flames. I believe that their house burned almost to the ground this morning.
While my own house is much newer, equipped with more advanced appliances and alarms than the home that caught on fire, that doesn't mean that an accident couldn't happen in a moment's notice, putting us in the same situation as the now temporarily homeless couple down the street. How can we be thankful to God in moments like these? I was reminded of God's sovereignty.
That may have been a long introduction, but my simple goal is to remind myself, and each one of my readers that God is in complete control over every circumstance. I know that the sovereignty of God can be difficult to understand, and I haven't really been tested in my belief of His authority, but I am completely sure that He is sovereign. And I am eternally grateful for this.
God's sovereignty simply means that He is in control of the entire world, every nation and every individual. He also has complete power over the circumstances, trials and even death of you and me. As I said, not all the pieces fit together in my mind perfectly. But this morning, I was forced to think deeply for a few moments. Even though this couple just lost their home and most likely all of their belongings, that fire had for some reason slipped through the fingers of a loving God.
I hope we will all ponder this part of God's character today, and be thankful.
Isaiah 55: 8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
While my own house is much newer, equipped with more advanced appliances and alarms than the home that caught on fire, that doesn't mean that an accident couldn't happen in a moment's notice, putting us in the same situation as the now temporarily homeless couple down the street. How can we be thankful to God in moments like these? I was reminded of God's sovereignty.
That may have been a long introduction, but my simple goal is to remind myself, and each one of my readers that God is in complete control over every circumstance. I know that the sovereignty of God can be difficult to understand, and I haven't really been tested in my belief of His authority, but I am completely sure that He is sovereign. And I am eternally grateful for this.
God's sovereignty simply means that He is in control of the entire world, every nation and every individual. He also has complete power over the circumstances, trials and even death of you and me. As I said, not all the pieces fit together in my mind perfectly. But this morning, I was forced to think deeply for a few moments. Even though this couple just lost their home and most likely all of their belongings, that fire had for some reason slipped through the fingers of a loving God.
I hope we will all ponder this part of God's character today, and be thankful.
Isaiah 55: 8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."