Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Ps. 115:3 (ESV)
Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. Isa. 46:9-10 (NLT)
“I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2 (NIV)
Heavenly Father, we’re quite capable of fretting, vexing, and sweating about how out of control things seem to be. The truth is, nothing could be farther from the truth. We may not always see your hand or discern your heart, or like your ways or celebrate your timing. But you “do all things well” (Mark 7:31-37), not predictably or easily.
Italy has her Three Tenors, but your Word gives us these three magnificent voices today, all singing the same glorious truth: You are God, and we are not. You were sovereign over King David’s challenged rule, crazy family, and personal failures. You were sovereign over Isaiah’s difficult ministry and the outlandish promises you gave him to proclaim. You were sovereign over Job’s loses and betrayals, misery and waiting. Indeed, no purpose of yours can be (or will be) thwarted, Father.
Surely, we can trust you with however you choose to write our stories, and the stories of people we love. You give and you take away, but always and only to bring glory to yourself. You work in all things for your glory and our good—no exceptions.
When you wound, ultimately, it’s to heal. When you enrich us, it’s to make us generous. When you delay, it’s not to frustrate us, but to deepen our trust of you and to help us embrace the mystery of your sovereignty. When you say “No” to what seems to us like really “good” requests, it’s because a better “Yes” is waiting in the wings. Thank you. We praise, bless, and adore you, Father. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ triumphant and tender name.
