Sovereignty

Sovereignty

Ever question God?

Ever question His ability to rule?

His ability to control the world?

In my ignorance, I have to confess I have.

My lack of understanding creates many questions.

In the end,

my questions take me from

what my ears have heard about Him

to what my eyes have seen in Him.

 

 “The exclusive right to rule or govern.”

The story of Job is about God’s Sovereignty.

With all the liberties and freedoms we have in America,

we can find it hard to understand Sovereignty.

After all we have rights!!!

God said of Job,

“There is no one on earth like him;

he is blameless and upright,

a man who fears God and shuns evil."

Job 1:8

Then the LORD said to Satan,

"Have you considered my servant Job?

There is no one on earth like him;

he is blameless and upright,

a man who fears God and shuns evil.

And he still maintains his integrity,

though you incited me against him

to ruin him without any reason."

Job 2:3 NIV

God had taken His best example of righteousness in the earth

and put him one on one with the devil.

All Job had worked for,

a life time of investment is wiped out in a day.

His children, 7 sons and 3 daughters

perished in that same day.

As Job’s grief grows from disbelief to reality,

he is stricken with boils.

His state of being is so bad,

his wife encourages him to do

what God said he would not do… curse God.

Job remained Righteous through all his suffering.

Job did not curse God

but he did curse the day God brought him into the world.

This reveals his lack of understanding the Sovereignty of God.

God saw Job’s life as meaningful

while He was forming him in his mother’s womb.

Psalm 139:14-15

This is why God challenges Job in the 38th chapter,

out of the storm God says,

2 "Who is this that darkens my counsel

with words without knowledge?

3 Brace yourself like a man;

I will question you,

and you shall answer me.

4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?

Tell me, if you understand.”

Job 38:2-4 NIV

God asked Job where were you when I created the heavens and the earth

and asked Job if he can understand and control all that was made by God.

In chapter 42,

we see Job comes to an understanding of God’s Sovereignty.

  

God proved His Sovereignty,

His rule and control over Satan,

every created thing, and man.

God formed you in your mother’s womb with a purpose.

When you can’t understand why things are the way they are

remember this!

God is SOVEREIGN

and He has a GOOD

and WONDERFUL PLAN!

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know.

 5 My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you.

Job 42:3,5 NIV

Scripture Reading

Job 42 NIV

1 Then Job replied to the LORD:

2 "I know that you can do all things;

no plan of yours can be thwarted.

3[You asked,]

 'Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?'

Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me to know.

4["You said,] 'Listen now, and I will speak;

I will question you, and you shall answer me.'

5 My ears had heard of you

but now my eyes have seen you.

6 Therefore I despise myself

and repent in dust and ashes."

7 After the LORD had said these things to Job,

he said to Eliphaz the Temanite,

"I am angry with you and your two friends,

because you have not spoken of me what is right,

as my servant Job has.

8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams

and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves.

My servant Job will pray for you,

and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has."

9 So Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite

and Zophar the Naamathite did what the LORD told them;

and the LORD accepted Job's prayer.

10 After Job had prayed for his friends,

the LORD made him prosperous again

and gave him twice as much as he had before.

11 All his brothers and sisters

and everyone who had known him before came

and ate with him in his house.

They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble

the LORD had brought upon him,

and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

12 The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first.

He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels,

 a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.

13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters.

14 The first daughter he named Jemimah,

the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch.

15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women

as beautiful as Job's daughters,

and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years;

he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation.

17 And so he died, old and full of years.