but on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought paul down and set him before them. [acts 22:30]
living in the sovereign hands of the Lord – means at times – we have to trust him when we have no idea what is going on.
ever been there.
not sure where you are…
or where you are going…
or where you will end up.
this is paul’s circumstance.
he has been beaten … then moved to a roman barracks … almost flogged … rescued for the moment by God’s sovereign hand … and now he is heading back to the people who beat him to begin with.
i can only imagine he had no idea what was going on.
in the midst of all this – he had to trust that the sovereign hand of the Lord was not only in charge of all of life – but he had to trust that the Lord was in charge of his very precarious situation.
today …
whose hand will you live in?
the Lord’s sovereign hand or yours?
the Lord’s sovereign hand or the world’s?
the Lord’s sovereign hand or …
sit in these – his words today. you are in his sovereign hands. live in them.
“show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. you have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. [psalm 39]
“remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for i am God, and there is no other; i am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘my counsel shall stand, and i will accomplish all my purpose,’ [isaiah 46]
“i know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. you asked, ‘who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ surely i spoke of things i did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. [job 42]
~ john ryan