Time Out (by Jerry Schmoyer)

Daniel is one of the most outstanding men in the Bible. From a young teenager to his 90’s he faithfully served. There is not one sin recorded about him in the whole book. He was an outstanding man of prayer and of faithfulness. Yet despite Daniel being such a very special man, the book isn’t really about Daniel – it’s about God. While Daniel shines brightly through the pages of his book, God shines even brighter. For the book is really about God and about His Sovereignty.

From the opening words God’s sovereignty is evident. Daniel’s family and friends are gone and he alone is taken to Babylon to train for service in the King’s government. God could have protected Daniel’s family and kept them together in safety and prosperity, but that wasn’t God’s plan. By the end of the book we see that God knew what He was doing, but we don’t want to wait until the end of our lives to trust His sovereign rule over each of our lives!

Everything about Daniel’s life shows God’s independent ruler ship. He and his friends prosper above the others on their special Jewish diet. Daniel survives the lions den and his friends survive a fiery furnace. Time after time Daniel is promoted to places of leadership in the governments of the various men and nations who rule Babylon. Daniel is given visions and revelations about the future of Israel and all nations. These form the framework for all later Bible prophecy. God in His sovereignty knows the future and was able to show it to Daniel. All history, past, present and future, will unfold just as God has planned for He controls it all.

Now if God is sovereign over nations and the future, if He is in control of every detail of our lives, and if He has our best interests at heart because He loves us, why do we worry about anything? Why do we fear the present or the future? Do we think something will slip out of God’s controlling power? Do we fear He will overlook some important detail in our life? Do we assume He will at one point stop loving and caring for us?

The sovereignty of God is the foundation of our faith. If God isn’t totally and 100% sovereign then by definition He isn’t God. If He is sovereign He has to be God. If He is God He has to sovereign. The whole Bible reflects this truth. History screams it out over and over. The testimonies of others affirm the validity of this fact. Our own past experience also supports this truth. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. God is sovereign. No matter what happens God is sovereign. Whatever the future holds God is sovereign. Despite what occurs worldwide, God is sovereign. God is sovereign. How could He be otherwise?

Scripture
2 Samuel 7:18-23, “Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said: ‘Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? And as if this were not enough in your sight, O Sovereign Lord, you have also spoken about the future of the house of your servant. Is this your usual way of dealing with man, O Sovereign Lord?’ What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, O Sovereign Lord. For the sake of your word and according to your will, you have done this great thing and made it known to your servant. How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.'”

Deuteronomy 10:17, “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.”

Reflect

• What difference does it make in your life that God is sovereign? Or do you sometimes think and act as if He were not sovereign?
• What would be the repercussions if everyone trusted 100% in God’s total control of every aspect of life?
• What situation or decision are you now facing in life? What implication does God’s sovereign control have to that situation or decision?
• Take a few moments to thank God for His sovereign control in your life: past, present and future. Worship Him, not just for being sovereign, but that His love guides and directs His sovereignty.

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Jerry Schmoyer has been a minister in Pennsylvania for over 25 years and has worked with teenagers for 14 years, ever since I became one myself. He authors the weekly Time Out series here at Life in Student Ministry in hopes to spiritually refresh your soul as you continually pour so much of yourself into students. God bless!

Posted on September 20, 2009