Lord of All

Excerpt from Message Given in Church

August 30, 2009

So in conclusion, let me share with you some of the objections that are floating around inside my head.  First, but what about this economy?  We’ve all seen the news stories, with the news anchors biting their nails, feverishly awaiting the newest statistics.  What we need to keep in focus is that God is orchestrating all of it.  He is Lord of the unemployment numbers. He is Lord of the State budget.  He is Lord of a shrinking GDP.  He is Lord of all, and in control of all.  Since God has a purpose for everything He does, we would be mistaken to assign a purpose to these events too quickly, but we would be remiss to throw up our hands and write the situation off to “chance,” “fate” or “luck.”  Doing so disregards God’s omnipotence over our lives and avoids an opportunity He may be using to show us something.

But my circumstances have changed.  One of the things that has been hard for me to understand as I’ve been growing in Christ is that God’s rules don’t change with my circumstances.  For instance, God says I can’t use wrathful words on someone even if they’re tearing me down.  God says I can’t overeat even if things are going crazy at work.  Believe it or not, this is ultimately a good thing, because God’s law remains consistent, even while we are not.  If it weren’t, then we could just say: God’s law applies to my life unless I’m tempted to do otherwise.  That may be the rule that our society plays by, but as the people of God, we’re called—I’m called—to answer to a higher authority.