I am sure most of you have heard about the tornado that swept through downtown Atlanta last Friday night. Guess where I was when the tornado hit the Georgia Dome? Yep, you guessed it....I was in the Georgia Dome!! I love college basketball, especially SEC basketball. Even more than that, if the Kentucky Wildcats are playing within a two hundred mile radius of Atlanta, then I am more than likely going to be there.
One bonus to going to the Kentucky game was watching another great basketball game between Alabama and Mississippi State. Alabama hit a last second three pointer that truly was a miracle shot. I think it bounced on three different places on the rim before it finally fell through the net sending the game into overtime. With 2:33 left in overtime, the tornado hit the Dome. A friend and I were talking about how much worse things could have been the night of the tornado. Even down to this detail : what if the game had not gone into overtime? Is God really sovereign over a last second three pointer? If the game had ended at regulation, there definitely would have been thousands more people walking around the streets of downtown Atlanta when the tornado hit.
I am not one to say that God causes every action and reaction. If that were the case, I think Kentucky would win every game. :) We won't open the "free will vs. God is sovereign" can of worms, but I would like to take a look at God's sovereignty for just a few minutes. First Chronicles 29:11 confirms the sovereignty of God. "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all." Nothing happens to us without God's permission. Some of us picture God granting Satan permission to mess with our lives, then he frantically runs behind us trying to pick up the pieces because of the permission that He granted in the first place. The Lord is never surprised. Joni Eareckson Tada says it well: "Not only is God not frustrated or hindered by Satan's schemes, but God actually uses the devil's deeds to advance his kingdom and bring glory to himself. We can trust our sovereign God who works all things out for our good and his glory."
One bonus to going to the Kentucky game was watching another great basketball game between Alabama and Mississippi State. Alabama hit a last second three pointer that truly was a miracle shot. I think it bounced on three different places on the rim before it finally fell through the net sending the game into overtime. With 2:33 left in overtime, the tornado hit the Dome. A friend and I were talking about how much worse things could have been the night of the tornado. Even down to this detail : what if the game had not gone into overtime? Is God really sovereign over a last second three pointer? If the game had ended at regulation, there definitely would have been thousands more people walking around the streets of downtown Atlanta when the tornado hit.
I am not one to say that God causes every action and reaction. If that were the case, I think Kentucky would win every game. :) We won't open the "free will vs. God is sovereign" can of worms, but I would like to take a look at God's sovereignty for just a few minutes. First Chronicles 29:11 confirms the sovereignty of God. "Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all." Nothing happens to us without God's permission. Some of us picture God granting Satan permission to mess with our lives, then he frantically runs behind us trying to pick up the pieces because of the permission that He granted in the first place. The Lord is never surprised. Joni Eareckson Tada says it well: "Not only is God not frustrated or hindered by Satan's schemes, but God actually uses the devil's deeds to advance his kingdom and bring glory to himself. We can trust our sovereign God who works all things out for our good and his glory."
You, too, can trust God's sovereignty in your own life. He pays attention to every detail and is working all things together for your good. Perhaps you are in a place in life where this doesn't feel like the truth, but I challenge you to find some time in the next few days to praise our sovereign LORD for all that he is doing in your life right now. Perhaps the present circumstances are preparing or protecting you. I think Easter is the perfect time of the year to praise our God for his Sovereignty, even in the details of our lives. I hope you had a great Easter celebrating our risen Savior!
