We see, the Sovereignty of God, in everything that happens in our lives.
Isaiah 43:10-13, ‘“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me. 12 It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God. 13 Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”’
We know God is in control of everything. In all our situations, we really believe it. When things are not working the way we want them, it becomes little difficult to believe it. Others believe that devil is doing this or that. Do not give unnecessary glory to the devil, especially when we know that God is in control of everything.
Genesis 42:36, ‘Their father Jacob said to them, “You have bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.”’
This is the time when Joseph was in Egypt. His family doesn’t know he was there, when his brothers go to buy food. Simeon was left behind in Egypt, when they returned with the food, the first time. They realize their money was back in their bags, the second time they were also asked to bring Benjamin. We see that they were in lot of trouble. They did not realize it was Joseph to whom they went to buy food in Egypt. When they conveyed all this message to Jacob, he says, ‘all these things are against me.’
We also tend to think like this, sometimes that, ‘all things are against me’! In these circumstances, we think it is difficult to understand that, ‘God is in control of everything’.
As Isaiah 43:10 says, ‘You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He.’
‘You are my witnesses’ – not just going out and telling others but personally we need to understand God Himself, but to be a part of what and who God is and being a witness to what God did in our personal lives.
Exodus 33:20-23, ‘But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” 21 Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”’
Because we cannot see God, we cannot understand His ways. We begin to doubt and be afraid. Here God says, ‘I can reveal My glory, but you cannot see Me’. He says, ‘there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by’. We know ‘Jesus’ is our rock. God wants to reveal Himself to us. Everything around us, is always God, through and through. There is nothing that is, outside of God, that is happening around us. To be able to know this, at the time of trial or feeling down, is a ‘revelation’. When we run into the same person who is ‘irritating’ or when we are asked to do the same thing again and again, without any reason or logic, we can tolerate them and do things up to certain extent, for some time and then, we come to the end of our capability of doing them. This is the time we can come to the end of our ‘self’, and begin to see God at work. Our only way out is that, we should stand on this rock, who is our Lord Jesus Christ. Only God can help us to get through from these situations.
Matthew 14:25-27, ‘And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Like the disciples, in some situations, we also think it is a ‘ghost’ who is coming near us, but it is ‘Jesus’. God Himself, who is in control of everything. To an extent we are blind to it, we cannot see that. This is the reason, we fear, we doubt! Let us hear the voice of ‘Jesus’.
V27, ‘immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Jesus is in control of everything. Let us take courage and not be afraid.
Deuteronomy 29:29, ‘The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law’.
There are lot of things we do not understand about God, the ways He works, but at times, He reveals to us some things along the way. As God reveals us things, little by little, let it be with us and our children as an inheritance. Let it be as a part of our understanding, our way of living on the Word, that we received; not just like a recorded thing or a book.
Isaiah 45:15, ‘Truly, You are a God who hides Himself, O God of Israel, Savior!
When we run into any kind of problems, we only need to run to our God. He will show Himself to us. Draw near to God and He will draw near to us.
V19, ‘I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a waste place’; I, the Lord, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright.’
Our God does not speak in secret, in some dark land, or in some wasteland. We need to go and seek God whenever we feel emptiness in our hearts, whenever the Holy Spirit prompts us.
Jeremiah 33:3, ‘‘Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’
Ezekiel 39:29, ‘I will not hide My face from them any longer, for I will have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,” declares the Lord God.’
Matthew 5:8, ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.’
Even though we cannot see God physically, the more we walk with Him, we will be able to see the way He works. We can see His hand on everything that is happening around us.
Deuteronomy 8:2,3, ‘You shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.’
It is surprising how the Israelites lived in the wilderness, where they cannot get any food.
V4, ‘Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.’
We see that God is teaching them that ‘Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. That is how the Israelites also lived. This proves that it was God who kept them alive.
‘“You are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, And there is no savior besides Me. 12 It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the Lord, “And I am God. 13 Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”’
Let us be His true witnesses, knowing Him and believing in Him and understand that He is God, Sovereign, who is in control of everything.
Praise God.
