Title: God Is Writing A Sovereign Story In Your Life
Scripture Reading: Hebrew 12:2
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Every one of us is living a story – full of ups and downs, twists and turns and many unknowns.
Jesus is both the Author and the Finisher.
Jesus is the Master story of our life. He knows the plot. He develops you through trials and triumphs. Even delays and detours are part of His chapter design.
‘I am the finisher’ means He will complete what he started. You are a work in progress, but not an unfinished mess. He already knows how the story ends and He is preparing you for it.
- A story that seems broken
Romans 8:28
‘And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.’
Please note that this verse can only come true if you love God.
- Tamar
- Rahab
- Ruth
- Bathsheba
Ruth is a story that seems broken
- Famine
- Death
- Loss
- Bitter
God is sovereign even in suffering, obscurity, and in unlikely places. Even when life falls apart, He is still writing your story. He is asking you today to cooperate with Him.
- God’s sovereignty in life’s journey
Psalms 115:3
‘Our God is in heavens; he does all that he pleases.’
Ruth 1:16 ‘Where you go, I will go, and where you stay, I will stay.’
Psalms 115:3 reminds us that God is not absent or powerless. He is not a distant God
‘He does what he Pleases’ speaks of complete sovereignty. God’s will is never frustrated and His plans are never hindered. His actions flow from His perfect wisdom, justice, and love.
God’s sovereignty means He has the full right and power to govern all His creation according to His own will, without needing permission, and without error.
To Peter, Jesus said, ‘I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked: and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will take you where you don’t want to go.’
We often assume to know better and strive for control which leads to anxiety and rebellion.
A. God was sovereign over her loss.
Yet, she chose loyalty over comfort.
When Ruth said, ‘Where you go, I will go, and where you stay I will stay’ she was not only loyal to Naomi, but she demonstrated her personal embrace of Israel’s God, a turning point in Ruth’s own spiritual journey. Then the story began, God’s sovereignty over her life began.
B. God was sovereign in His grace. Even in her personal grief, God was guiding her toward something greater.
C. God was sovereign over her location. It meant God was moving in unlikely places.
The phrase ‘as it turned out’ in Ruth 2:3 is a phrase like chance, luck but in God’s plan, there is no coincidence. God placed her in the right field, at the right time, to meet the right man.
Proverbs 16:9 says, ‘A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.’
When we say God ‘establishes’ the plan, it simply means, he makes firm, secure or guided plan.
D. God was even sovereign over her relationship.
- Man’s failure to understand God’s sovereignty
Daniel 4:35, ‘He does according to His will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.’
The big truth is that God is sovereign not just in eternity, but in the details of our lives.
He says to you, ‘I am sovereign in the details of your life today; in your health, your family, your future, your nation, your suffering, and your story – the story of your life.
Psalms 31:15 says, ‘My times are in your hands.’
Acts 17:26 says, God ‘marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.’
We have to understand God’s sovereignty.
In conclusion, even well-meaning Christians today had a difficult time submitting to God’s sovereignty and insisted on our own sovereignty. We assert our right to self-rule, independence, and personal authority without interference from outside forces, especially God. We want individual autonomy and control over one’s life. It means making our own decisions, setting our own boundaries, and not allowing others to dominate or dictate our choices. We say, ‘I won’t let others pressure me. I have the right to choose for myself.’ ‘This is my life, and I will decide how to live it.’ And we struggle with God’s sovereignty because we want to retain control over our own lives. Insisting on our sovereignty, we resist God’s will, thinking we know what’s best. For instance, we reject God’s leading and choose paths based on pride, fear, not trust, leading so many times to anxiety and rebellion. But God send a greater man to demonstrate submission to God’s sovereignty. He sent Jesus that greater man. As the Son of God, Jesus Christ had every right to focus on and lay claim to His throne, but instead, He looked to the Father in humble submission and showed us how to pray. His submission did not lead to the desired result. God doesn’t seem to be sovereign in grace to Jesus. Grace was not shown to him. Judgment instead was given. God’s sovereignty was not shown in His location when Golgotha became the place of execution for Jesus. God’s sovereignty was not manifested in relationship when He was separated from God when He was hung on the Cross. The face of the Father looked away. Yet in spite of all this he said, ‘Father if you are willing, take this cup away from Me – nevertheless, not My will but yours, be done.’ Jesus, in His humanity expresses a desire to avoid this immense pain and burden. Yet He submitted His human desire to the Father’s greater plan. Why? So that He can pay for our sin. Sin broke the relationship between God and man. His death restores peace between us and God. Through the cross, we become friends not enemies of God. Relationship is restored. So, if you come to Jesus today, His death makes salvation possible for all who believe. God just need one thing from you. Believe and cooperate. It opens the door to a new life, now and forever with God. Jesus died for us in our place, because of us, due to our sin, to save us from judgment to bring us to God.
