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, though things often seem random, chaotic, and out of control, nothing could be farther from the truth. We may not always see your hand, discern your heart, or like your ways, but you are God, and there is no other god.
In these Scriptures, three of your children in three different sets of difficult circumstances, all affirm the same glorious truth: You are a good, good Father, working in apparent and not so apparent ways, always engaged and always in control.
You were sovereign over King David’s challenged rule, crazy family, and personal failures. You were sovereign over Isaiah’s difficult ministry, fractured world, and the gigantic promises you gave him to proclaim. You were sovereign over Job’s loses and betrayals, misery and waiting, health and faith struggles. Indeed, no purpose of yours can be (or will be) thwarted.
Father, help us trust you, with however you choose to work in our situations and write our stories. You give, and you take away, but you always do so to bring glory to yourself. When you wound, ultimately, it’s to bring healing.
When you enrich, it’s to make us generous. When you delay, it’s not to frustrate us, but to consecrate us to the bigger purpose you have planned. When you say, “No” to our “logical and good” requests, it’s because a better “Yes” is waiting in the wings.
Father, continue to renew our thinking, gentle our hearts, and deepen our worship. Until the Day Jesus returns, free us to rest in your faithfulness and rejoice in your sovereignty. Make the gospel bigger and sweeter, that we might vex less and trust more. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ powerful and loving name.
