DEVOTIONAL | The sovereignty of God

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9

I’ve been thinking about God’s sovereignty a lot recently. Certain life events have made me stop and wonder how I reconcile a loving, gracious God that won’t always answer my prayers? How do I feel about God when I pray for healing that never comes, or restoration in a relationship that remains broken? How do I reconcile a kind God that seems to answer everyone else’s prayers but mine?

Accepting What We Don’t Understand

As I’ve reflected on life events and the places where I have seen God’s hand, I have reached the following conclusion, God’s sovereignty is beautiful and wild and well beyond what my finite little brain can comprehend. Whilst God designed us for relationship with Him, our humanity is not a match for His sovereignty. In the book of Isaiah, God declares that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and His ways are not His ways (Isaiah 5:8). The way God thinks and acts and responds to situations in our lives is well beyond our understanding. We look at Him through a human lens and expect Him to respond in a human way, but that just isn’t God.

Waiting For God.

So, what do we do when pray and plead with God, yet our prayers are remain unanswered? Quite simply, we wait for God. Whilst the bible is full of stories of God’s incredible miracles, it is also full of stories of God saying no. The book of Habakkuk is a great example. After watching evil prevail, Habakkuk pleaded with God to redeem his people, only to have God say no. Habakkuk would have heard the stories of how God redeemed his people, so he knew that God could do it, yet He was saying no. What did Habakkuk do? He drew on what he knew about God, and he decided to sit and wait for the Lord to speak to Him.

I don’t know about you, but I would like to be like Habakkuk when my prayers go unanswered. I would like to be intentional about sitting and waiting for God to speak. As easy as it can be to take matters into our own hands, we need to learn to wait for the Lord to speak to our hearts. We need to remind ourselves of the depth of His love for us. To remember His sacrifice for us.

Getting Real With God

We also need to know that God is the safest space to share our heartache and disappointment and anger. When we remember that God is indeed gracious and kind and loving towards us, our hearts become confident to be vulnerable. We feel safe being raw and real about how we feel with God, even when we are angry with Him. My Nan used to always say, “God has big shoulders, He can handle your anger.” And it’s true, He can. He is not human and flawed like us, He is sovereign and mighty and perfect in all He does. And so, we open our hearts to him and then allow Him to speak His peace into those spaces. We hold onto His goodness and mercy. We allow the Holy Spirit to encourage our soul and enable us to hope in the Lord because He is good.

Waiting Still.

We can easily write God off when he says no or not yet, but in those moments, can I encourage us all to remember who God is. Let’s remember his heart and character. We can’t see every aspect of every situation, but we can trust that God is FOR us. He isn’t trying to hurt us but lead and protect us. He is working towards what is best for us. Our unanswered prayers are not a rejection but a reflection of His sovereignty and love. He is a good, faithful God that loves us deeply and unconditionally.