A Closer Walk
A CLOSER WALK
Greg Worthen
Job speaks to God's Sovereignty. "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshiped, And said, 'Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked I shall return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly," Job 1:20-22 KJV.
Job lost all his children on the same day; seven sons and three daughters. Job lost all his livestock on the same day he lost all his children; seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred female donkeys. All that remains is he and his wife, and their health. Then on another day Job is stricken by sore boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. God's Sovereignty. He has the power and the authority to do all these things. Because He is God. “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God... ” Isaiah 45:5 NASB.
It is interesting to note that God was actually not the being to carry out all this calamity. It was Satan who did the dirty work. But God was the one who allowed it, and set the boundaries for the loss. Read chapters 1 and 2 of Job and we see face-to-face conversations between God and Satan regarding these matters. As to why these things were allowed to happen? Well, that is another question for another day, and likely is above my pay grade.
But there is no doubt that our God is sovereign. A friend put it this way, "If there is one molecule somewhere in the universe that is not under God's power, then God is not sovereign." God is sovereign and that is good news for us. He is the only God and there is nothing beyond His power. He is Omniscient, all knowing. He is Omnipotent, all powerful. And He is Omnipresent, all places at all times. There is no place we can go to get away from God. Read Psalm 139 for David's dissertation on this.
In His Sovereignty he chooses to delegate to us, you and me, authority over our little corner of His Kingdom. We can decide to plant tulips or roses; or both, or neither. We can choose to paint our bedroom blue or green or yellow. The farmer gets to decide if he plants wheat in his field, or corn or soybeans. We have been given sovereignty over our little corner of the Kingdom. We can choose to put money in the offering plate, or not. By the way, there are special blessings that come from our giving. Read Malachi 3:9-10, Luke 6:38, and 1 Corinthians 16:1 for instruction regarding giving, and the blessings that come as a result of our giving.
This delegation of authority came in the Garden of Eden. "And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth,'" Genesis 1:27-28 NASB. Since we have been given authority over all these things we are also required to be good stewards of them. "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy," 1 Corinthians 4:2 NASB. The King James and other translations use the word faithful rather than trustworthy. The Amplified Bible uses both. To be good stewards of our corner of the Kingdom we should be trustworthy and faithful with it.
Our God is sovereign. And He delegates sovereignty to us, his children, over our little corner of His Kingdom. Amen.
"You have encircled me behind and in front, and placed your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot comprehend it," Psalm 139:5-6 NASB.