God's Still In Charge

I just picked up the book after which my college's chancellor's ministry is named: Desiring God. John Piper's insights into the purpose and proper motivation for life are absolutely mind-blowing. I can't get enough. Please read it!!!

He blows any arguments for anti-sovereignty out of the water- not just from a theologian's perspective, but from the stance that actually wants God to be completely sovereign. This can be hard to understand and grasp initially, but God being in charge of everything makes life so much sweeter!

I have a really hard time when people give God credit for all of the blessings in their lives, but when the unpleasant times roll around, God is somehow extricated from any and all claims to responsibility. We don't need to defend God from things that He never denies. For example, when a believer loses a house in a fire, many will say that God is not allowed to do that. God wants the best for us, therefore he should not be responsible for the house burning down. Here's the thing: if that person is a true child of God, will they run away from Him or will they run to Him in the midst of growing adversity? They will run to Him as fast as their little legs will carry them.

Is this a bad thing? Is this something that God does not want? ... ... ... No. No, no, no, no, no!!! This is GOOD. When we have everything that is most important to us get stripped away from us and we in turn run to Jesus, who is made to be seen as the most valuable? Jesus. You wanna talk about Gospel-centrality, here it is, from the mouth of Dr. John Piper, "No one is a Christian who does not embrace Jesus gladly as his most valued treasure, and then pursue the fullness of that joy in Christ that honors Him." Anyone who does the opposite of that on a consistent basis doesn't have a lot of ground on which they can claim sonship and fellow heirs of God the Father.

Here's my point. God is about God. "God has many goals in what He does. But none of them is more ultimate than His glory. They are all subordinate. God's overwhelming passion is to exalt the value of His glory. To that end, He seeks to display it, to oppose those who belittle it, and to vindicate it from all contempt. It is clearly the uppermost reality in His affections. He loves His glory infinitely (Piper, 43)." God is allowed to ordain all kinds of things that are other than good (evil) or even just straight up uncomfortable. "Why?" you may ask? Because God's self-centeredness means that He might decide to burn down our house, take away friends, or just pry idols right out of our hands. Whatever it takes for us to realize how only-satisfying He is are the measures He will take, for those who are truly His children.

If you are feeling like God isn't near or present, hope in God. You will again praise Him, your salvation and your God.

And yes, God has ordained what is happening. And yes, I love it. "You're crazy." Sure. I'm really crazy. Never denied it. However, I'm not crazy enough to think that God took a day off from planning my life and then came back after a commercial break and realized how hard things got all of a sudden and was then pleasantly surprised that I'm realizing how much He is the only satisfier of my soul. I'm not that crazy.

I love my God because He knows that prying my idols out of my clammy hands will make me tired enough of the struggle to realize that He's all I've got. He loves it. I love it (on occasion). It's a win-win situation.

I like thinking of God as in control rather than me being in control. It's a lot easier when He's calling the shots than when I am royally messing everything up.

God alone is my hope. I want to feel that reality-altering truth more deeply.

.DSN.