The God who is in control
It was a great relief to welcome the Shoemarks home this week as they emerged from MIQ in Auckland!
In some sense, their experience over the past six weeks has been a snapshot of life in our COVID world over the past 18 months - lockdowns, quarantine, separation from family and friends, missing significant events, constantly changing plans, uncertainty about the future, relating to people through a zoom screen rather than face-to-face.
In the midst of all of this, it can be hard to see how God is using it for his good plans and purposes.
One of the things we will see in 1 Samuel is that God's will prevails even in the face of difficulty and danger. Even when his people are powerless to do anything about their own circumstances, God is the one who is in control. He is the King.
Often we are tempted to think that God's sovereignty and his control of all things are to deliver to us our personal happiness and fulfilment. But the reality of life and the words of the Bible paint for us a different picture.
"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these things.
“You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;
let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
let salvation spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
I, the Lord, have created it.
"Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,
those who are nothing but potsherds
among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
‘What are you making?’
Does your work say,
‘The potter has no hands’?
Isaiah 45:7-9
God is the one who is in control bringing about his plans and his purposes. This week in 1 Samuel we will see that real life and satisfaction and joy comes from getting with God's agenda not expecting God to fit in with ours.
Grace & peace,
Andrew