The Place Where I Live

We have a lot of disagreements in our world, but it seems like there is one thing on which we are all agreed. These are tough times. The end. I say "the end" because exactly what makes it tough varies. It's the war in Ukraine or it's prices or it's government or it's the Supreme Court. It's politics or religion or social ills or physical woes. It's relationships or it's radicals. It's hate or harassment, sex or sexual orientation, racism or inequity, poor pay or poverty, ignorance or apathy. It's actually a long menu of complaints from which, I'm sure, we could all pick more than one. What do we do with our woes? How do we handle our tough times? These days there is a large group who have decided to fight about it. Some are actually fighting in the Ukraine. Others are fighting in the political arena or the socical justice arena. Even more are fighting online, because there your voices can be made heard without much consequence. We've elevated hate to a national pastime, discarded compassion for all but our own pet projects, and sit on hair-triggered outrage ready to explode if just one more person offends us.

What do I do? I live in a different place. Oh, I reside here at the moment, but I'm just a visitor, a sojourner; I'm just passing through. Your president may be Biden, but my Master is not. I'm an ambassador in a skin suit waiting to complete my job and go home. In the meantime, I serve a risen Savior. I worship a Sovereign God. Oh, and I mean Sovereign with a capital "S". Solomon wrote, "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand" (Prov 19:21) and "The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps" (Prov 16:9). The psalmist assured us, "Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases" (Psa 115:3; Psa 135:6). Paul wrote that God "works all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph 1:11). Isaiah wrote things like "As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" (Isa 14:24) and "I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things" (Isa 45:7). Job said, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2). Jeremiah asked, "Who has spoken and it came to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?" (Lam 3:37). Over and over again, God's Word declares that God is absolutely and only Sovereign.

With a Sovereign God, I can rest in stormy seas. But that's just part of it. A God who is Sovereign decides, but is it a good decision? It's a reasonable question, but the place where I live is in the presence of a God who loves. God defines love (1 John 4:8). He generously demonstrated His love by sending His Son (Rom 5:7-8) and making a way for salvation (John 3:16), for peace with Him (Rom 5:1). Paul's prayer was that we would "know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge" (Eph 3:19). Yes, a Sovereign God, but a loving God, too. So He's Sovereign and He's loving and these are both critical, but is He right? He can control outcomes and do it with the best of intentions, but if He's mistaken, it still isn't good. So I live in the place where God is "the only wise God" (Rom 16:27). He is "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God" (1 Tim 1:17). Paul loses his mind over God's wisdom when he writes, "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?" (Rom 11:33-34). No one knows better what is good than God.

The place where I live is in the presence of a Sovereign God who is too loving to be unkind and too wise to be wrong. Living here, in the midst of all the disagreements and wars, both literal and figurative, I can experience a peace that passes understanding because I know a God who passes understanding. David wrote, "The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" (Psa 27:1). That's where I get to live. What about you?