Lymph Journal # 47 - A Sovereign God - hmm

3/23/1012

The last time ( a few weeks ago) I stretched in the chemo-lounger for five hours taking in an infusion of Rituximab in the peaceful haze that is part of that process, I got to musing again on the sovereignty of God.  I didn’t have the energy to type these thoughts out on the keyboard so I jotted some things down in a notebook.  There are always a few problems in doing that – they’re why I rough draft on the computer most times.  First problem – when will I actually get back to it and transfer thoughts to electronics?  (This also begs the question of will I really remember what I was thinking at the time?) Second problem – what the heck did I actually write – my penmanship is abysmal – ask anyone who tries to read my shopping lists or a student who receives comments on a returned paper (I have to reserve time to interpret for them what I’ve written – sometimes I actually can read my own writing).

As far as I can reconstruct here’s where I began –

Do I believe in the sovereignty (def: supreme power and authority) of God? 

There are many moments in life where one who claims God’s sovereignty has to make sure they have an answer to that question.  Cancer is one of those moments.  There are many more in any person’s life. 

So, do I believe in the sovereignty of God?  Isaiah 40 repeats a marvelous phrase regarding God’s role in the universe: “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?”

Isaiah 40: 21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? 
Has it not been told you from the beginning? 
   Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 
22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. 
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live …. 27 Why do you complain, Jacob? 
Why do you say, Israel, 
“My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God”? 
28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? 
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. 
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 
29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 
30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 
31 but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. 
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

The tone of the phrasing is interesting.  The writer puts it out there – it’s just plain incredulous to not believe in the sovereignty of God.  “How did you miss this one folks?”

So let me answer the question straight up.  I believe in God’s sovereignty.

I just don’t fully (maybe not even close) understand it.

There are all sorts of biblical imagery to help me out.  God as Creator, God as sustainer, God as King, God as the Potter (while I’m but the clay) – these all contribute to my understanding but each image comes with its reservation when a person is in extremis.

We’ve got to be careful not to cherry pick what we value about God and His sovereign workings.

Sovereignty by definition is sovereignty over all.  This is easier to accept when things seem “good” but what about the bad and the ugly in our lives and experience?  It’s wrapped up in the classic question of theodicy (def: the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil.) – a philosophical and theological nut with so many layers to penetrate.  (If you want to wade in these waters may I recommend John G. Stackhouse, Jr. (1998). Can God Be Trusted: Faith and the Challenge of Evil).

But, for the purposes of this entry, let me pose a nub of what I don’t understand.  When the bad and the ugly occur – what’s with God.  Here are the options on the spectrum:  God is the cause.  God wills it. God allows it. God redeems or rescues it. God has purpose in it that we do not/cannot “get” at this juncture.  God is somehow “surprised” by it (He didn’t know it was coming as the “open theist” might argue).  All of these and more are argued from different theological traditions and biblical interpretations.

But, “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?”  I don’t know which option applies to my present situation although I’d rule out God being taken by surprise.  I suspect there are a few levels going on and that God the Potter can also be likened to God the “Grand Weaver” (credit to Ravi Zacharias).

God seems to allow us latitude somehow within His will.  Without the freedom and ability to choose where would we have a sense of morality or ethics?  All would be without credit or blame. The good, the bad, and the ugly would all operate as instructed.  All would be broken to order.  There would really be nothing free, nothing from which God could/would redeem us, nothing much to live for either.  God somehow has determined that to let us go our way opens the path to winning us back to Himself.  That process looks messy from our perspectives.

Possibly the biggest obstacle to accepting the sovereignty of God is our own myopia.  When we somehow presume that God’s good intentions for the universe must mean “good” in our personal lives we’re in a collision course with confidence.  There exists the distinct possibility that it’s not all about me.  If He is the potter and I am the clay – well – is what He is forming about the form or about the whole potted collection?  Sometimes the clay looks good, sometimes bad or even ugly.

In Gethsemane and later on the cross was Christ experiencing the good, the bad, or the ugly?  Our present understanding now is that He was doing the good but the experience was bad and ugly.  The result, of course, is stunning!

We forget or never realize that we’re temporarily stuck in the conflict phase of the great story of Scripture and that the story’s hero is a God that is prodigal – a God that allows freedom and yearns for reconciliation and a God who has granted us that means of reconciliation in Christ.  He’s let us go, He beckons us back and He makes it possible that we’ll come.

In the long road of eternity the good, the bad, and the ugly will all be processed.  The long arm of justice will prevail because it has been satisfied.  All wounds will be healed.  All tears will be dried.  The villains and the victims (we’re both, are we not) who were quick to spot the bad and ugly will appreciate the infinitely greater injustice done to Christ and begin to joyfully laugh at the marriage feast of the Lamb.

In the great reach of eternity I will, when someone recalls my present situation, say, “Cancer, oh yeah, I remember that now.” 

Today I want to leave it behind and get on with life and love and ministry. 

Then I might say, “Thanks for bringing it to mind – I’d sort of forgotten – it’s always good to remember one of life’s grace episodes.  The Potter did amazing things with His clay.”

So I take hope in God’s sovereignty even though I don’t always get the hang of the mechanics of it.  The alternative to a sovereign God is one that is not – not God or not sovereign and I find that pretty close to unthinkable.  The evidence of God’s grace in my life and the lives of others I makes finding the alternative to a sovereign God impossible.

So that, to the best of my ability to recall and decipher my handwritten scratchings, is where I was in the process a few weeks ago.  I remember a favorite tune that played during that chemo-lounger session.  Fred Hammond’s All Things Are Working for Me is a beaut.  Lyrically it’s good but you’ve got to try and get it audibly because Fred really speaks through song.  If in the U.S. you can try www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyHIzQvKhcE

Or there’s the iTunes store – this one’s a keeper.

Falling apart and tearing at the seams

Tribulation lends a hand and squeezes all your hopes and dreams

You say you retreat, you say you just can't win

Before you let your circumstance tell you how the story ends

(God's word) His word says you can stand,

He'll cover you with His grace

Everything you need is in your hand,

So lift up your head and say

Chorus:

All things are working for me, even things I can't see

Your ways are so beyond me,

but You said that you would let it be for my good,

so I'll rest and just believe

Verse 2:

I know you say you've got it bad right now,

Let me say I know that feeling well,

To make good plans for life and then watch them take a

downward spin

Let me encourage you while I encourage me

See the raging rain and wind but He'll speak peace and it will come to an end

(The truth is)The truth is He cannot lie,

I'm in His hands and I'm on his mind,

promised me He'd always be there,

so by faith He will answer my prayer

Chorus

Bridge:

Many days and nights I cried because I felt let down

But I won't always receive good but a praise in my heart will remain

So with tears in your eyes know sometimes it might get rough

but say Lord I love you more and that is enough to know

All things are working for me, even things I can't see

Your ways are so beyond me,

but You said that you would let it be for my good,

so I'll rest and just believe

It’s time to take that rest.