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Sovereign: In Personal Affairs
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Focus: God’s sovereignty in our personal affairs gives us reason to be thankful at all times in Christ.
Just as God is sovereign in our public affairs, so God is sovereign in all of our private affairs.
The Challenge of the Thorn
Knowing God’s Heart
Sovereign in His Grace
The Challenge of the Thorn
God is sovereign in the thorn.
We must learn to acknowledge God’s sovereignty in our lives as readily when we are being shaped by challenge as when we see things going along with ease.
There are different degrees of difficulty in life and even this pandemic has offered different measures to people.
The goal though, through it all, is that we would get our footing in Christ alone when all of the extras stripped away.
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
A person’s theology that gives them a picture of life without challenge or trouble causes greater anxieties, issues and problems because we think something is wrong or we are out of the will of God when we face them.
Greater theology can equal greater peace.
Could it be that you are actually in the will of God when you have a thorn in your flesh?
“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day.”
- C.S. Lewis, The Collected Works of C.S. Lewis
The key to remaining in a good place is knowing God’s heart in the midst of His sovereignty.
Knowing God’s Heart
God’s heart of love and care for us remains steadfastly the same.
It is imperative that we know God’s heart towards us even as we trust his sovereignty in our trials.
Psalm 35:27-28 (NIV)
May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.” My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long.
3 John 1:1-2
The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth. Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
The issue of our perpetual frustrations, misplaced faith and dashed hopes is that we are trying to create heaven on earth within our own little worlds.
This is eschatologically problematic and emotionally draining.
Just as God uses historical persecution towards the church to separate nominal Christianity from authentic faith in Christ, so he uses trials within our lives to deepen our trust in and devotion to him.
“God uses chronic pain and weakness, along with other afflictions, as his chisel for sculpting our lives. Felt weakness deepens dependence on Christ for strength each day. The weaker we feel, the harder we lean. And the harder we lean, the stronger we grow spiritually, even while our bodies waste away. To live with your ‘thorn’ uncomplainingly — that is, sweet, patient, and free in heart to love and help others, even though every day you feel weak — is true sanctification. It is true healing for the spirit. It is a supreme victory of grace.”
- J.I. Packer, God’s Plans for You
Knowing God’s end game is key.
“Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord.”
- J.I. Packer, Knowing God
When we have a proper theology we acknowledge and put our hope in the light at the end of the tunnel.
Until then, we are sojourners passing through.
Sovereign in His Grace
God’s sovereign grace is sufficient for us.
We know that as we learn to rest in God’s sovereign grace, we are freed to be thankful, turning places of weeping into places of God’s great joy.
Psalm 84:1-12
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
I’ve found that the greatest challenge to my joy can be the lack of control that I feel.
I am by nature a fighter, and we are absolutely to be in the Kingdom of God for the purposes of God.
The realization that I can fight by faith while not being responsible for the outcome is an exercise in trust in God’s sovereignty.
It allows us to serve God with joy knowing God works all things for the good of those who love him.
“Storms make trees take deeper roots.”
-attributed to Dolly Parton
God is in control now.
He will forevermore be.
Let him use the thorns that we face to press us into him.
As we do, meeting Jesus continually at the cross, may we also know his joy and great resurrection power as a foretaste of the life to come.
Repent of sin and believe the good news today.
God is sovereign in our personal affairs.
Second City Church - Sovereign, Pastor Rollan Fisher 2020