Traditions are interesting things, aren’t they? Some you plan
out, knowing that this tradition is one you want to develop in your family. One
example of this type of tradition in our family is reading the Christmas story
together on Christmas morning and singing Christmas carols before we open
gifts. However, other traditions just sort of happen, and once they become a
part of your routine, they become deeply integrated into the rhythm of life.
For our family, that is the singing of two particular songs most nights before
bed. Since the kids were little, we have read to them at bedtime, and somewhere
along the way, without meaning to make it a habit, we began singing “Our God is
an Awesome God” and “Oh God, you are my God” at the end of this reading time.
My husband had introduced the kids to these Rich Mullins’ songs at some point, and now for several years, these two songs have been part
of our nightly ritual, a tradition of sorts.
The other night as we began singing our songs, the lyrics of
“Awesome God” struck me anew. “Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from
heaven above with wisdom and power and love.”
He reigns! Do you need to remember that today? I do. We have a God who is
sitting on the throne, sovereign and reigning over every circumstance in our
lives. Nothing catches Him off guard. He rules over all, and He works it all for
good on behalf of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). And I love the words that
follow that specify how He reigns.
He reigns with wisdom. Wisdom speaks of the ability to
know what’s right and what’s wrong and to act accordingly. God is all-wise. In
every situation, He knows what is best for His children, what will further His
kingdom, and what will bring Him glory. My wisdom is limited; I never see the
big picture as God does. I try to imagine how God should work (according to my
wisdom) and struggle at times when He works differently in ways that I
personally would not have found wise. Paul cautions us in Romans 11 from this type
of thinking when he declares, “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?”
(33-34). I can’t counsel God. The finite limited mind doesn’t give advice to
the infinite, all-knowing God. My response is to trust. I think that is why in
I Peter 5, the call to cast all our fears on God (7) is actually related to the
command to humble ourselves before God (6). In the context, casting our cares
on Him describes how we humble ourselves. We recognize His sovereignty and
wisdom and allow Him to do in our lives as He pleases, and we give the things
that we fear and can’t control into His all-wise sovereign care.
He reigns with power. He is able to do what He wills
to do because He is all-powerful. Pastor Adam has been preaching through God’s
attributes, and the statement that has stuck with me the most from this series came
a few weeks ago when he was speaking on this very topic. God is sovereign both
in his authority and His ability. But so often, we want the authority ourselves
while asking God for His power to bless our plans. God uses His power to
ultimately accomplish His will, not mine. I can pray for certain outcomes
(indeed I’m commanded to bring my requests before God), but I submit those
desires to God’s will. Whatever He then wills will come to pass, because His
power makes it happen. In Isaiah 46:10-11, God says, “My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose, calling a bird of prey from the east, the
man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to
pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”
He reigns with love. Aren’t you grateful for that? God
is for us, not against us! “If God is for us, who [or what situation] can be
against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how
will He not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32). God
is working on your behalf out of the loving heart of a perfect Father. And
though at times it may feel that His hand is against us in the sufferings we
face in a broken world, we know that this is not true. For even in the
sufferings, He is purifying us and growing our faith, and He promises as a
result of the suffering to bring about greater glory and honor at the
revelation of Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:6-7). Sisters, may we together pray for
each other what Paul prayed for the Ephesian church, that we “being rooted and
grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is
the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ
that surpasses knowledge” (Ephesians 3:17-19).
What then should our response be to our God who is reigning
with wisdom, power, and love? It’s the second song we sing every night: “Oh
God, you are my God, and I will ever praise You. I will seek You in the
morning, and I will learn to walk in Your way, and step by step You’ll lead me.
And I will follow You all my days.”
--Amy O'Rear
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