Held in His Sovereign Hand

I was driving our new car home to Alton. The young man who sold us the car was riding along to pick up our trade in. I asked him where he was from. Atlanta. I’m always curious how people from other places end up here so I asked him. In time he asked where I was from and I confessed I was born and raised here and despite spending many years plotting to leave, it seemed this was the area where God had called our family to stay.

In my better moments, I’m able to view living here as a mission field; if I were in a foreign country I would not complain about taxes or being far from family. I would have it settled in my heart that this is where the Lord has ordained for me to serve Him.

The past week has not been one of my better moments. Multiple times I’ve fought back tears as I hear about my friends and the support they have from parents. I’m envious that my kids don’t have grandparents who are actively involved in their lives. I feel alone, and if I allow myself to dwell in that place very long I give the enemy a foothold which rapidly leads to bitterness and discontentment.

I am so thankful for the Word of God that reorients me to the truth. This week I needed to read (and re-read) Paul’s carefully reasoned sermon to the people of Athens.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us…”

Our Father is the Lord of heaven and earth. His sovereign control of all things extends to the very breath we breathe. Time and again it is this attribute of God that I cling to. Paul tells the Athenians that this God has even determined when in history and where in the world we would live. God ordained that I would live in Godfrey, IL in 2021. Sovereignly, he placed my family in the place where we live, with the neighbors we have and He has called and equipped us to share His love with them.

While we can rest in knowing that all things are under his control, God’s sovereignty is not only characterized by His control and authority, but also by his presence.

“He is actually not far from each of us…” The heart of the gospel is that God came near. In our rebellion we were unwilling, and in our sin we were unable to draw near to God. But He came to us! Because of Jesus there is no grief I bear alone, no tear I cry unseen, no circumstance beyond his control.

“Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:7-10

In your job, in your home, in your trial, your joy or sorrow, He is Lord of all. In whatever circumstance you are in today, I pray you will find comfort knowing you are loved and held by our sovereign God.

-Natalie Runyon