O Father, You are Sovereign

For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back? Isaiah 14:27

In this uncertain world, and these very uncertain times, it is so reassuring to know one thing for sure: God is in control. He, the King of the Universe, is sovereign over all His creation. He created the heavens and the earth with His VOICE, and the winds and seas still move in obedience to Him.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. Genesis 1:1-3

The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all. Psalm 103:19

God is sovereign over His creation - and that includes us! Nothing can thwart the plan that He has for each of us, and for this world as a whole.

Whatever the LORD pleases, He does, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. Psalm 135:6

We would be wise to daily acknowledge God's sovereignty and submit our will to His.

I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. Job 42:2

God's will and sovereign plan does transcend time and space, chance and change. We certainly do not have the capacity to understand it.

Just as you do not know the path of the wind and how bones are formed in the womb of the pregnant woman, so you do not know the activity of God who makes all things. Ecclesiastes 11:5

However, we do have the capacity to trust Him, knowing that His will is best.

And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. Psalm 9:10

I'm not saying trusting is always easy. Often it's not. When we suffer and walk through the wilderness, it is often an act of our will to trust. We must trust out of obedience to Him.

Even in our hurt and pain, we can rejoice that the Lord is sovereign over our situation! He is the Lord of human pain, and His sovereignty includes His plan for turning our pain into heavenly gain.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you. I Peter 5:10

Your suffering is being worked to perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you! If your suffering is a result of your obedience to Christ, be strong and courageous in your obedience and in doing what is right. God, your faithful creator, can be trusted!

Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.
I Peter 4:19

And in your suffering, remember to keep rejoicing, because your Sovereign Creator has ordained this for you.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. I Peter 4:12-13

You can take heart that your suffering now, as awful as it seems, will be forgotten in a moment when compared with what is to come.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18

As we look forward to that glory that is to be revealed to us, we trust Him to bring that day quickly; when every knee will bow declaring Him Lord of heaven and earth.

Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. I have sworn by Myself, the word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness and will not turn back, that to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.
Isaiah 45:22-23

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

We have confidence that God is sovereign over all, including over Christ's triumphant return - and we trust Him to bring it about in His perfect time. Until then, we live our lives full of adoration and praise, worshiping our Sovereign Father; to Him be honor and eternal dominion!

I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time--He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
I Timothy 6:13-16

O Father, You are Sovereign
Words by Margaret Clarkson

O Father, You are sovereign in all the worlds you made;
Your mighty word was spoken and light and life obeyed.
Your voice commands the seasons and bounds the ocean’s shore,
Sets stars within their courses and stills the tempest’s roar.

O Father, You are sovereign in all affairs of man;
No powers of death or darkness can thwart Your perfect plan.
All chance and change transcending, supreme in time and space,
You hold Your trusting children secure in Your embrace.

O Father, You are sovereign, the Lord of human pain,
Transmitting earthly sorrows to gold of heavenly gain.
All evil overruling, as none but Conqueror could,
Your love pursues its purpose – our souls’ eternal good.

O Father, You are Sovereign! We see You dimly now,
But soon before Your triumph earth’s every knee shall bow.
With this glad hope before us our faith springs up anew;
Our Sovereign Lord and Savior, we trust and worship You!