We worry, don't we, about the spiritual wellbeing of our family, our friends and our neighbors, particularly those who reduce God to an afterthought (or would have us think so, anyway). Our faith teeters in tremors of doubt; our confidence ebbs in rip tides of fear. But as the Psalmist observes, God's sovereignty extends over everything; even people's "lostness" - in whatever form - he turns to their own good and to his own glory.
When spiritual wanderers - hungry and thirsty for truth, yet clueless about where to find it - cry out to God, he hears them and he delivers them from distress. He "satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." (Psalm 107:4-9).
When those who "rebel" against God's words and "despise" his counsel cry out to him, he saves them from their darkness and distress. He bursts chains forged in arrogance and cuts through iron bars wrought in bitterness. (Psalm 107:10-16).
When those mocked by their own rebellion suffer the consequences of their actions and cry out to God, he sends forth his word to him; he heals them and rescues them. (Psalm 107:17-22).
When those who set out to adventure life in their own strength and for their own purposes become overwhelmed by the raging seas of reality and cry out to God, he stills their storms, saves their souls and calms their hearts. (Psalm 107:23-32).
Do any of these describe your story or that of someone you know? Then rest in this: Though our sinful souls drive us away from God in a thousand different directions, he pursues us in love and in pity. His sovereignty extends even over our sin and the consequences of our foolish choices. And when we reach the end of ourselves, there we will find him, open-armed - eager to nourish us, heal us and make us whole.
So let us celebrate God's sovereignty. Let us pray to him in thanksgiving and not in fear. For faithful is he who loves us more than we love ourselves.
[Click here to read Psalm 107:1-32.].
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