Take Comfort in His Sovereignty

You know, this past week, we had the midterm elections. And if you listened to the media, you would think it was like the most important election this country has ever had, right? I mean, everyone was focusing on that, and it was going to tell all these things about what was going to happen to this country, or has happened, and all these things. And it turned out to be a very interesting time. I always find the elections kind of like in entertainment, almost a sporting event, to kind of just watch, you know, how things go and whatever. But after they out, and it didn't come out, I think, exactly the way the media expected it to. But it came out the way that God wanted it to. And the next day, you know, after many, all the races were decided, and you know, I guess some of the races here in Florida aren't decided yet, but Mr. Trump was holding a news conference. And I thought, I want to hear what he has to say. And of course, I missed the time that he began, but I remembered it an hour later. So I turned it on about 1230 on, that would have been Wednesday. And I thought, I want to hear what is being said. Well, he was in the midst of answering questions from reporters at that time. And when I turned it on, it was a very contentious exchange between him and one reporter that, you know, frankly, the man was showing some disrespect, you know, to a man who is the President of the United States. So I thought, okay, is this how this whole morning has gone? But it got resolved. But in a few questions later, a man stood up, a reporter, and he asked the question. He said, Mr. Trump, two years ago, I asked you, how did this happen? No one expected you to win. How did this happen that you were elected President? And he goes, your one-word answer to me was God. And I thought that was, and you know, you know President Trump, he usually elaborates at length. That was the only thing he said. And, and God. And he said, Mr. President, my question for you today would be, do you believe God was involved in the election yesterday? And Mr. Trump said, I believe God is involved in everything that happens. And that's all he said. And it made me think, it made me think, and I was glad that he said that. You know, because there's many things that that we hear that, you know, we not only raise our eyebrows out, but probably over, but cringe.

But it made me think about a verse, the verses back in Daniel, where it talks about the leaders of our land and the nations that be. God is involved in those things. Let's turn back to Daniel, Daniel 2. Daniel 2, verse 20.

Daniel 2, of course, is where King Nebuchadnezzar has had the vision of the statue, and he doesn't know what it means. God gives Daniel the interpretation, and Nebuchadnezzar knows Daniel has the Spirit of God. And Daniel goes on in verse 20. He says, he says this, "...blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are his. And he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding." And he goes on and talks about revealing deep and secret things as well. God sets up kings, and God removes kings. You know, sometimes I think we think all these things that go on are totally, totally up to us. Let's go forward to Daniel 4. Daniel 4, and here in Daniel 4, Nebuchadnezzar has had another vision, and he sees what ultimately is him being, for seven years, living as a beast of the field as God humbles him, because Nebuchadnezzar was a very proud king as presidents and leaders often are. They fall prey to that. And three times in chapter 4, as Nebuchadnezzar is explaining his dream to Daniel, and then as Daniel interprets it, he says something that we take note of. Daniel 4, and let's pick it up in verse 17. Daniel 4, 17. He says after Nebuchadnezzar describes this troubling dream to Daniel, he says, this decision is by the degree of the watchers and the sentence by the word of the holy ones. This is something that's coming from above that is going to happen to Nebuchadnezzar. In order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, he gives it to whomever he will and sets over it the lowest of men. The Most High, God rules in the kingdom of God or the kingdom of men. He's evolved in the affairs of men. He's watching what's going on down here. So we move over to verse 23. It's repeated again. I'm sorry, verse 25.

Daniel, as he's interpreting it, interpreting the dream for Nebuchadnezzar, he says, they shall drive you from men. Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make you eat grass like oxen. They shall let you with the dew of heaven, and seven times, or seven years, shall pass over you till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men existeth to whomever he chooses. Nebuchadnezzar will come to know it was God who gave him that kingdom. It wasn't like his might. It wasn't like his great ideas. God gave him that kingdom, gave him that power, if you will, on earth to be over the world ruling kingdom at that time. We drop down to verse 32. We see it again. It says, they will drive you from men. Your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They'll make you eat grass like oxen. Seven times will pass over you until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men existeth to whomever he chooses. That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from men and ate grass like oxen. His body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair had grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws. And at the end of time, at the end of the time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me. And I blessed the Most High and praised and honored him who lives forever. For his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain his hand or say to him, what have you done?

Nebuchadnezzar came to understand God is sovereign. God has control over the earth. There's nothing that goes on on this earth that God can't control. There's nothing that he isn't aware of. There's nothing that happens apart from what he wills it to be. Yes, we have choice, and yes, we have the opportunity to make decisions in life as the people do. But God has a plan, and that plan will be forever and ever. That plan will be established exactly the way he said. And when he gets involved in the affairs of men, and he will to make that happen. You know, when God created man and woman, when he recreated the earth, a man and woman to live in, if Satan was the being, if, you know, as we learn from Ezekiel, is it Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 or vice versa? Satan had control over the universe. God gave him that control. There is no power that is there that God doesn't give. And when God created Adam and Eve, and he walked with them in the Garden of Eden for however long it was, that he taught them and educated them. When we get to chapter 3 in Genesis, Satan just didn't appear because he kind of outsmarted God and began talking to Adam and Eve. God allowed him to be there. God gave him the permission to be there. He allowed Adam and Eve to be tempted. He needed to see what was in their hearts. God gave him the authority to do that. And down through the time as we read the Bible, we see that Satan sells us in 2 Corinthians 4.4. He's the God of this world. He's the one who has the influence, but he's not doing it apart from God. God's the one who gives him the ability to do this. God has allowed him to be on this earth because he wants to see what is in the hearts of man. He wants us and people to develop the character of resisting evil and choosing good and developing the character that will for eternity choose what is right. You know, in Mark 127, even when Christ was on earth, they marveled when Christ would throw demons out of the people and they said, who is this man that even the demons obey him? Satan doesn't have full reign on the earth. He can't do whatever he pleases. We learned that in Job when he went up and asked permission to God. Here's this man Job. If you'll just let me test him and try him, let's see what's in his heart. He couldn't do it unless God told him to do it, that it was okay to do it. So we understand that the powers that are on earth, even Satan, are here by the approval of God.

It happened down through Israel and we see in the Bible where kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall, all by God's hand. Let's go back to Jeremiah 27. Jeremiah 27. We find the nation of Judah. They've been ignoring Jeremiah's warnings that if they don't turn back to God, the kingdom from the north, this great world-ruling power of Babylon, would come and destroy them and take away from them the kingdom that God had given them. In Jeremiah 27, in verse 5, verse 4 says, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, I have made the earth, Jeremiah 27. 5, I have made the earth, the man, and the beast that are on the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to me.

I have given the power, and now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and the beasts of the field. I have also given him to serve him. So all the nations will serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the time of his land comes. And then many nations and great kings shall make him serve them. I set up kingdoms, and those kingdoms fall by God's power and involvement in the affairs of men. And it shall be that the nation and kingdom which will not serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and which will not put its neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation I will punish, says the eternal, with sword, famine, and pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. And he cautions the people of Jerusalem. When you're under that land, you pay attention to the laws. You serve him well. He's not saying, disregard me, disregard my commandments, but you serve the king that I put you under. Therefore, don't listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your soothsayers, or your sorcerers who speak to you, saying, you shall not serve the king of Babylon. They prophesy a lie to you. God says, the authority that you're under, you live in it. I have decreed it, and I have the power to do so.

If we go forward, actually back, to Isaiah. Isaiah 10. We see God making a similar command to the nation of Israel, who had departed from God many years before, and they lost the land that God had promised them, and told them, this is yours, and you will live in it a long time, as long as you obey me, as long as you follow me, as long as you were yielded to me. In Isaiah 10, and verse 5, and you'll remember it was Assyria. Assyria is the one who conquered Israel, the ancient nation of Israel. Verse 5, Isaiah 10. God says, woe to Assyria, the rod of my anger, and the staff in whose hand is my indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation, and against the people of my wrath. I will give him charge to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. This people has disregarded me. This people has disobeyed me. This people has forgotten me, and I've given them years and years and years to come back to me, but they haven't.

And God says, I will use you, Assyria, to teach a lesson to people who disregard me. Verse 7, speaking of Assyria, yet he does not mean so, nor does his heart think so, but it is in his heart to destroy and cut off not a few nations. For he says, Are not my princes altogether kings? Well, let's drop down to verse 12. Therefore it shall come to pass when the Lord has performed all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem that he will say, Now, we can put in the cert there, now I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the glory of his haughty looks. For he says, By the strength of my hand I've done it, and by my wisdom for I am prudent. Also I have removed the boundaries of the people and have robbed their treasuries. So I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man. My hand was found like a nest the riches of the people, and as one gathers eggs that are left, I have gathered all the earth, and there was no one who moved his wing, nor opened his mouth with even a peep. You see what happens with nations? God will use them, and then they will all of a sudden take it upon themselves and say, Look what I did! Forgetting that even as never the canenser did, it's God who gives the power, it's God who gives the strength. And then nations, and we can put people in place of those nations. If we become full of ourselves, and we think, Look what I've done! Aren't I great? Isn't this a wonderful thing that I've done? And we don't remember. It's not by our strength, not by our might, not by our intelligence, but by God's power, God's spirit that leads us and guides us. And when those people and those nations have become arrogant and proud, God then punishes them that they learn a lesson. And so you can go through the Bible and see where God has, it was God who has in the affairs of men worked that His purpose would be done. You can go back to the nation of Israel that was enslaved in Egypt. It was God's hand that delivered the people from Israel or from Egypt. It was God. Pharaoh had a hardened heart. He didn't let those people go, but the Bible says God hardened the heart of Pharaoh because His will would be done. He would exact vengeance on all the gods of Egypt. He would let them know that their little gods didn't have any power and strength and might, that He was the God over all gods. Something Israel needed to learn as well, something that Egypt should have learned, something that we need to learn throughout our lives. God is the ultimate God and all our other little gods, whatever they may be, He will exact judgment on until the time we come to realize God is the only God and we rely and trust and yield in Him or yield to Him. He is sovereign. He is the God of the universe. He provides all our needs and that's where our trust and our reliance needs to be. Back in Proverbs 21, verse 1, Solomon writes this, Proverbs 21, verse 1, The king's heart is in the hand of the eternal.

That's interesting, isn't it? The king's heart is in the hand of the eternal like the rivers of water. He turns it wherever he wishes. He turns it wherever he wishes. One day a king can be favorably disposed to whoever, whatever group they debate, the next day he may be totally against them. You know, we see in the letter I sent yesterday about the people of Angola. You know, at the Feast of Tabernacles there was nothing at all, nothing at all on the horizon in Angola. We had a group of four or five thousand people that were over there that had obeyed God on their own. He had led them, and when they came to us, it was kind of amazing to see that they believed exactly the same thing we did, and no one knew that group was existed over there. They were looking for someone of like mind, a church, and it was by the internet that they said, you guys believe exactly the same things we do. They have schools, they have church buildings, they have a whole society that's built around God's way of life. And then out of literally nowhere, this edict comes that if you don't have a church that has a hundred thousand numbers in it, that you're in danger of losing your registration and could well be an unlawful assembly.

Out of nowhere, there are peaceful people. They're not causing any problems. The same thing can happen with us. We live in a land that's protected by the Bill of Rights. But at any time, when God determines, He can change the hearts of men, and we could find ourselves. We could find ourselves in a situation much like that. God can steer the hearts of people. He is sovereign. He is God. His will will stand, and His plan will be accomplished. You don't have to turn. This is Psalm 15, verse 3, but then it says, God does whatever He pleases.

He just hasn't taken a backseat and said, you know what, I'll see you all in six or seven thousand years. Do whatever you want. You have carte blanche on everything. He's involved. It's His purpose that's being worked out in this earth, on earth and with you and me as well, as we'll see here in a little bit. Even when Jesus Christ was on earth in John 19, when He was being arrested, and He was brought before Pilate with all these accusations that were false against Him because of people that envied Him, that didn't want to listen to what He had to say. They wanted to keep the status quo, wanted to have their way and not change any things that they did. Pilate marveled, if you remember, how Jesus Christ responded to the accusations. That He wasn't there defending Himself and throwing a fit over all those things. In chapter 19 in verse 11, Christ said this to Him.

Pilate in verse 10 says, Don't you know that I have the power of life and death over you? Verse 11, Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against Me, unless it had been given you from above.

I don't have any power over Me. It's God who's given you the power. It was His plan. This was His plan from the foundation of the earth. So no Pilate. Don't pat yourself on the back.

This is God's plan, and it will stand.

Back in Isaiah, well, you know, over in the New Testament, let's go to Romans 13. Romans 13. God would tell us in this day and age, the same thing He told the land of Judah, the same thing He told Israel, the same thing He tells us today, because His way is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Chapter 13 in verse 1 says, Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. So we can look at a world situation, and we can say, oh, this person shouldn't be, in my opinion, this person shouldn't be prime minister over there, or this person should be president over this nation. If it was my way, what is God doing? As it said in the network, it said, Daniel 4. We can't say to God, what have you done? He knows exactly what He's doing. What is happening in the world is exactly what God ordained, exactly what He wants. Which of us would want to stand up to God and say, you didn't do that right. We don't want this man, or this woman, or this group in power over us.

It's not our call. And God says, you respect the authorities that are there, and you don't worry about it. You just believe in Me. You trust in the fact that I know what I'm doing, that I am going to bring about my plan exactly the way that I have said in the Bible.

My will will be done. Jesus Christ will return. There will be a kingdom set up on this earth that will last forever and ever. And it will get there exactly the way that I said. I prophesied it, and it will happen. None of us want to be in the position that one day God says, you resisted Me. You resisted Me. Remember when Peter was responding to Jesus Christ when He was telling the disciples, it's given that the Son of Man is going to be crucified.

I don't think He uses the word crucified. He's going to be lifted up, and He's going to be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. They got the message that Jesus Christ said, I'm going to die. And Peter, you know, innocently said, no, no, no, that's not going to happen to you, Christ. He didn't want to see Him die.

He knew this man was good. Do you remember what Jesus Christ said to Him? He said, get behind me, Satan. Get behind me, Satan. It's God's will. This is what God wants, and I'm going to do it. Don't resist His will. Let it happen. Yield to Him. Submit to Him. Trust Him that He knows what He's doing.

He is involved, and He will bring about what He says He will do, and He says that exactly in Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46 and verse 9. Isaiah 46 and in verse 9, says, remember the former things of old. I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.

I will do it. I said I will do it. I will do it. Yield. Believe. Have faith. Trust. And don't resist. Don't resist Me. Don't speak against Me. You know, every time when we have an election, people wonder, should I, not most don't, but should I vote? You know, I think when we understand that God is sovereign, that His will is being done, what a Christian who truly trusts in God and believes in His way, and that God is sovereign, that we would vote?

Would we want to be in danger of resisting what God has in mind, or being on the opposite side? Benjamin Franklin, in the transition, we believe that God is involved, and the powers that be and the nations that be are according to His will. Benjamin Franklin said this, God governs in the affairs of men, and if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that any empire can rise without His aid? I think Benjamin Franklin knew the Bible.

I think when he said that, he was looking and saying, you know, this is happening by God's hands. This nation is rising because God ordained it, not because of our might, not because of our smarts, not because of our military strategies, it's because God ordained it. And as you look through American history, and other nations can say the same thing, there's a sovereign God who is in control.

He's allowed Satan to be in control, to the extent that he allows him to be in control, under God's authority. Let's define the word sovereign, because what happens in the world is one thing, but it also affects you and I individually as well. According to the dictionary, the word sovereign means this. It means chief or highest, the supreme in power, superior in position, independent of, and unlimited by anyone else.

There's only one being in the universe that that can apply to. Every other being on earth is subject to someone. Only God is sovereign. He is unlimited or limited by power or by authority for someone else. Only he is sovereign. He exercises that. We need to understand that. When we understand that, it helps us in ways that maybe we haven't even thought of.

We understand that God is sovereign, that all things are in his hands.

It does bring us comfort and it does bring us peace and acceptance and allows us to grow in the way that God wants us to. Let's turn over to Matthew 10 and see what Benjamin Franklin, the verse that he was referring to when he said, if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God's notice, is it probable that any empire can rise without his aid? In Matthew 10 and verse 28, he says in verse 28, Christ, in the middle of a discourse here that he is saying, he says in verse 28, don't fear those who kill the body but can't kill the soul.

It would be naturally fearful for us to have a gun pointed at our head and know that this person could take our lives. Don't fear the person who can kill the body, but he can't kill the soul. Understand there's a life beyond this physical life that God is preparing us for and that he wants us to yield to him and learn to choose him, but rather fear God who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Verse 29, aren't two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your father's will, but the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't fear, therefore you are of more value than many sparrows.

You know, when God used the example of sparrows, you know, he could have used eagles, he could have used parrots, he could have used some great bird that's out there. He used sparrows. You know, I remember when I was growing up in the Midwest, there were sparrows everywhere, and sparrows could get in your house and they could kind of do things in your sighting and whatever, and a lot of people just wanted to see sparrows gone. They could be a nuisance. And when Christ uses the word sparrows there, he's showing this is a common bird that isn't important to mankind. In many cases, they just want the sparrows gone. There's just so many of them. They're not rare. They're common. You know, we can grow the comparison to ourselves. We are just common people. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1, you know, we're not the wise of the earth. We're not the ones that God is going to, people are going to look at and say, wow, I can understand why God used them. They were the powerful. They're the richest. They're the best looking. They're the best speakers. They're the ones that everyone looks up to. No, God doesn't use those people. He calls the weak and base things of the earth. The things that the other people would say, they're common. They're, I'm not going to use the word worthless. Sometimes people call sparrows worthless, but we are worthless when we realize who we are. When we look at ourselves and God's eyes, you know, who are we that God has been mindful of us, David said, even of himself. And we know David's heart. But God said, there's not even sparrows that fall to the ground. I'm not aware of it. Do you see the detail that God has when He looks at the earth? He knows everything that's going on. Everything that's going on. If He knows what's going on with the sparrows, do you think He knows what's going on with you and me? People that He has called out, people that He's working at with. He knows what's happening. You know, one of the things that I've been praying and thanking God for a lot, besides His mercy, patience, love, this is attention to us. That He is attentive to our every need. There's things that we find in our lives before we even ask for it. Or know that it's a need. He's attentive. He knows what our needs are. He knows what our faults are. He knows what our strengths are. He knows our hearts. He knows what we are. He's attentive to our every need. And when we read about sparrows, that He's even attentive to those sparrows. What comfort and what encouragement should that be to us? That God knows that He's attentive to us. And He has an attentive eye on you and me, just like He has on every creature of earth. He knows. Our minds can't even conceive of how attentive and how detailed that He knows everything that's going on. That should be quite the comfort to us. To know that things are when things happen to us, whatever they may be. Whether they're health problems, financial problems, relationship problems, or things, persecution and tribulation as we get closer to the time of the return of Christ. He knows. He's aware. He's got an attentive eye and nothing is happening without His knowledge. In 2 Peter 3, 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, a memory verse, I think, for most of us.

Peter writes this. He says, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some can account slackness, but He's long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. He's attentive. He's patient. What He wants is for you and me to receive eternal life. What He wants is for you and me to repent because that is necessary. Once before we're baptized in a major way and then ongoing throughout the rest of our lives, as we see the faults and as we see the weaknesses and as we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, to weed out the old, the sinful, the weak, the things that are not commensurate with Jesus Christ.

He's not slack concerning His promise. He isn't sitting up there thinking, I just don't feel like doing it today. He's doing it because He's attentive to us, because He loves us, and He wants to give us all the time that we need to get ready. The thing with God is He knows exactly what it is that you and I need to be ready for the return of Jesus Christ. He knows exactly what you and I need to fulfill what He wants us to fulfill when Jesus Christ returns. It's a different path for all of us because your weaknesses and my weaknesses are different than your strengths, and my strengths are different. But He's patient with us, and it may happen in a different way than we think. We know that God didn't call us to a bed of roses, that it wasn't going to be an easy road, that there were going to be things that happened along the way that we were going to have to live with. Let's go back to Isaiah 45.

But God works in our lives. He works in our lives, and He works in different ways. He is the sovereign supreme God who has the right to do that, and because He loves you and me, and all His people, and everyone who has ever lived, He will do what He pleases. Isaiah 45 and verse 7. God speaking here, as you can see through verses 5 and 6, I form the light and I create darkness. I make peace and I create calamity. I, the eternal, do all these things. Other signs of peace, those are nice times, but I also create calamity. I will learn something about, now we learn something about all ourselves in times of peace and good times. I create calamity, and we learn something about ourselves in times of calamity as well. I create peace, I make peace, and I create calamity. You know, Job was a man who was blameless, God said, in his eyes. When Satan approached him and said, can I have Job for just a little while? This man who you say is such a good man and whatever, he's blameless, and God said, he is blameless in my eyes. I see his heart. I see what he's doing. What he's doing is very good. And Satan said, can I just have him for a little while? Let me touch him. Let me touch his life. Let me create some calamity in his life. Let's see how he responds. Now, we saw how Job responded. It wasn't the way Satan wanted to respond, so we went back and asked if he could do a little bit more. God said, do it. Just don't take his life. And in his calamity, there was something revealed in Job that he had to work on, his self-righteousness. And as a result of that calamity in his life and those troubled times, he became a stronger person more than he had ever been. And he was a stronger person the man after God's own heart. Back in James 5, James talks about this time of Job, James 5.

And verse 11, because there are times in our lives and things that happen that we might say, why is God doing this? Why did this happen to me? This is tough. And we may find ourselves asking, what good did this do? What purpose does this serve? And I know some have those questions. And we don't have the answers. One day we will. God knows. Satan can't do anything without God's approval. And he teaches us and sees what we're about. James 5, verse 11, says, indeed we count them blessed. Who endure? Christ says, endure to the end. You've heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord. You see the end that he intended? It was tough on Job. If that happened to you and me, or even part of what happened to Job happened to you and me, we would be devastated. But you see the end intended by the Lord? The Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

Job became a better man. As a result of all he went through, it was a terrible, terrible trial for him. As some of us have gone through some terrible trials.

If we endure, if we have faith, if we trust in God and know he is working in our lives, he has a purpose and he has an intended end for each of us. As it says back in Daniel 4, who's going to resist and tell the God? What have you done? He has the right to do it, and he has the right to do it, and he does it for our own good. Let's go back to Proverbs 16.

Proverbs 16.

Proverbs 16, verse 33.

It says, The lot is cast into the lap. You remember the Old Testament lots? They would use lots and then say this is God's will, whatever the lot would show. The lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from God.

More modern translation puts it this way, and it has the same meaning. It says, where do I have that written? Ah, from the New Living Translation. We may throw the dice, but God determines how they fall. We may throw the dice, but God determines how they fall.

He lets us throw the dice. He lets us make decisions. He lets us make choices, and we will pay for some of those choices that we make. Now, we may even lose what He has called us for if we continue to make the wrong choices and we don't continue to live under His grace, led by His Holy Spirit. If we don't continually yield and grow closer to Him, we may throw the dice, but God determines how they fall. So, what has fallen on some of us is by God's will. You know, we read, I won't turn back to Exodus 4. You can mark it in your notes. Exodus 4, 11, and 12. What talks is Moses. When Moses is saying, God, I can't do this. I stutter. I'm slow of speech. I can't do those things that you're asking me to do. And God has to teach him that even our little disabilities, God is stronger than. He can heal or fix anything that we say is wrong with us. But we learn from those verses that even God allows the disabilities that some of us have. You know, we've been in some areas where people who have been in the church a long time, their kids have children that are born with disabilities. And we might ask the question, why? Why did God allow that? And for that family, it's a trial. It's a trial of faith as they wrestle. Why did God allow that? Why isn't he healing this child? And all the congregation have prayed and prayed for that, and God didn't heal.

You know people who are disabled and have disabilities. It's for a reason. Someone didn't outsmart God. And you know, as you talk to the people with disabilities, you learn a lot about them, those who have endured. You see their faith.

You see the lessons they've learned. You see and understand the insight that they have into how people behave as they watch how people respond to them. And it's quite encouraging if you take the time with someone who is crippled, someone who has a chronic disease and has had it from birth, to sit and talk to them and see what God has taught them as they haven't resisted and hated their disability, but learn to live with it and accept that it was God's will. That it was something that he gave them, and they learn. They learn to live with it. They learn to accept it. And they learn lessons that you and I can only learn from someone who has been through those disabilities. It wasn't a mistake. God didn't overlook something. He just didn't blink his eye at the moment they were born. For them, it was a lesson learned. And for those of us who take the time to talk, we learned some things that we wouldn't learn as well. Let's go back to Deuteronomy 32.

Deuteronomy 32.

And verse 39.

Notice how when God makes these comments, he reminds Israel, he reminds us, he's God. He's in control. It's his decision. Deuteronomy 32, 39. Now see that, I even I am he, and there is no God besides me. I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal, nor is there any who can deliver from my hand. What I say will happen. My intent will be brought about. I wound and I heal. And we are delivered when it's God's will. Because he wants us all to learn, he has the power of life and death. He has the power of healing or not healing. He has the power to make us who he wants us to become and bring us to who he needs us and wants us, not needs, who he wants us to be at the time of Jesus Christ's return.

It's not by accident that you have these wounds and these things that happen. I wound. I heal.

Trust me. Seek me. Learn what I want you to learn. Because I'm leading you to a path of eternal life, a path of salvation.

I was reading on the internet and I was preparing this. I came across a little story that I thought was interesting. I'm going to assume it's true, but someone was writing about the diagnosis of cancer that they got. Many people, when they hear the word cancer, they just assume it's a life sentence or a death sentence. I think when people hear that word, that's the first thing that is on their mind. This lady wrote, and she said that she had come to understand that she was in God's hands and that she was reading the Bible. She wasn't in the church. I don't even know. I don't even remember if it said what her name was or anything. She said that she was in the hospital and she was going through her chemo, treatments, and all these other things that people do when they have this. She came to a moment of peace because she was reading the Bible and she was seeking God, trying to understand why at her age she had these problems and this came upon her. She said, I was reading in Psalm 119, and I began to understand that God is the one who gave me this. Let's go back to Psalm 119. I'm going to quote the verses that she said because I thought they were very insightful, what she wrote. In Psalm 119, in verse 67, she said she was reading and this came to her attention. Psalm 119 verse 67 says, Before I was afflicted, before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Before that, I went astray, but now I keep your word. You are good and do good. Teach me your statutes. Teach me your way. I need to know more about your way, she said, and realized that before I was afflicted, these things happened to me. Let's stop down to verse 73. I'm sorry, 71. It's good for me that I have been afflicted. Strange thing to say, right? It's good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn your statutes, that I may look to you, that I may learn what you say. The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of coins of gold and silver. Verse 75, I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me. I know you have afflicted me. Let I pray your merciful kindness be for my comfort according to your word to your servant. Let your tender mercies come to me that I may live for your law is my delight.

Here's what she concluded or said in this. She goes, you know, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. I'm right where God wants me to be, and it's good. Isn't that a mature and comforting thing to realize? No matter what is going on, we're exactly where God wants us to be in good times, in bad times, in health, and in sickness, in poverty, or in wealth, in whatever faith that God wants. When we understand that God is sovereign, when we understand that He has our best interests at heart, when we believe, and Jeremiah 29 and 11 says, my thoughts of you are only good. I'm doing what is best for you because I have more in mind for you than just this 70, 80, 90, or 100 years you live on this earth. I have eternity in mind for you. What a comfort it is to be able to go through life. And it might not be enjoyable, but to know we are in God's hands. Psalm. We're in Psalm. Let's go back to Psalm 34.

Psalm 34. David, who went through so many trials when he was on earth, he says this. Psalm 34, verse 19. Many, not a few, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but God delivers Him out of them all. Not just some. God delivers them out of them all. In Romans 8. Romans 8. And verse 18. Paul came to the same realization as Peter did, as all the apostles of God did, as you and I do, as we understand and see what God has put us through in the lessons we learn in this lifetime as He's preparing us, that He is the sovereign God who is attentive to us, merciful for us, merciful to us, not willing that we should perish but that we would have eternal life. Romans 8, verse 18. Paul said, I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed in us.

But we have to learn to yield. We have to learn to accept. We have to learn what God wants us to learn. Put ourselves in His hands and do what He wants us to do. Same chapter. Romans 8, verse 28. We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. That's you and me. All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. It may not be pleasant for a week, a month. It may not be pleasant for years. But all things work together for good to those who God loves and who He calls according to His purpose. Let's read down through the next few verses here. For whom God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among any brethren. He predestined that He would call you and me. He didn't predestined that we were going to be there. He's going to give us the opportunity. But like so many others that God has called who have said, you know, I don't really want that. I don't really want to be at the bridal supper. I have this excuse. I have that excuse. I've got this to do. This is more important to me today. God wants to know this is the most important thing in our lives. He's called all of us and He's purpose to call us. He wants us to be there, but He's not going to make us be there.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, those He also called. Whom He called, these He also justified. And whom He justified, these He also glorified. When we walk through the steps that God has called us to do, He calls us, He justifies us, and if we continue to the end with Him, we will be glorified because of our submission, because of our yieldedness, because of our surrender, because we accept God as sovereign in our lives. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? So what if people threaten our lives? So what if they threaten to take away your belongings, or fire you if you don't do what God says? So what if God is for you, who can be against us?

So what if we have a diagnosis that's dire? Do we give up? Do we forget God? Or do we seek Him? And do we call on Him? And do we look to Him and learn to look to Him for all the things that He provides? God is called, and God wants us to be where He wants us to be.

Psalm 31 verse 15, you can mark it down there. David said, My times, God, are in your hand. My time, my life, is in your hand. I trust you. I believe in you.

I know that you have my good at heart. I know that you can do all things and you will do what you please. I will learn over the course of my life not to question, not to be mad, not to be upset, not to resist, but to let you. Let you bring me and develop me into who you want me to be.

Let's close here in 2 Peter, 2 Peter 3.

I'm going to read through the chapter here. And in this chapter, I think we see Peter talking about God's sovereignty and what His will is and what His will is for us.

2 Peter 3. As we go through this, I'll point out to you the number of wills. God will do this that are in here. Chapter 3, 2 Peter verse 1. Beloved, I now write to you the second epistle, in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first, that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts. God said it would happen. It will. They'll mock God. They'll say, what is this about? Mark's scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts and saying, where's the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. We've heard this for thousands of years that Jesus Christ is coming. What are you even hanging on to that for anymore? People will say that and probably more and more as we get closer to His return. For this they willfully forget, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. God is the one who brought that world and that age to an end. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word are reserved for fire, until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, don't forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.

The Lord is not. No confusion there. We read this verse. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness. But is long-suffering toward us? Not might be. Is long-suffering toward us. Not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will. It will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with the great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. God said it would happen. It will happen, whether you or I want it or not. The question is, will we yield to Him or not? Or will we be part of a resistance to Him? Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Who should we be? How should we be looking at ourselves? How we should be conducting our attitudes and looking at our attitudes toward God?

What manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace without spot and blameless. And consider that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation, as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom that was given Him, is written to you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things. And some things are hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist their own destructions, and the internet is full of those twisting and turning of what those scriptures mean, which untaught and unstable people twist their own destructions as they do the rest of the scriptures. You, therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware, lest you fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked. But grow, yield, understand that God loves us. He's attentive to us as those two sparrows, that He's sovereign, and take comfort in that sovereignty. Knowing that He is in control and what He says He will do, He will do. Just go on with your lives and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to Him. Be the glory of all now and forever. Amen.