Who’s In Charge?
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:22 ESV)
He is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:10 NIV)
Not everyone is a good person. Not everyone is looking out for your best interests. In fact, there are those around us with malicious intentions and who may even act to bring harm. It’s the world we live in today. It’s been this way since the beginning actually.
In a garden we read of an evil creature who had mal-intent towards the perfect and good Creator and sought to brought harm to Him by harming those the Creator cared about. This event has found its way into our classic stories of revenge - harm me and I’ll harm what you care about. And this evil creature (Satan, the devil) continues his work through people. Cain kills Abel, Jacob’s sons exact revenge on men who harmed their sister, religious leaders conspire to kill the Son of God, and there are many other such stories of revenge and harm.
Have you ever been threatened? Do you ever fear of retribution from a crazed individual? Do you know that we live in a world that seems unstable and ready to break at any moment? Things may seem at their worst at times, but fear not for God has given us a gift. The church, through the centuries, has suffered persecution from evil men and lies from deceivers, but in the midst of all of that, we have Someone who is sovereign and wise in our corner. Jesus is head over all things and He is ours.
Nothing gets past Him. Nothing surprises Him. All things work together for those of us who love Him, those of use who are called by Him. Random acts of violence? Not for the children of God who trust in Him. Purposeless suffering? Not for the adopted child of a loving Father. Just getting what we deserve? No, we get what we don’t deserve (grace and mercy) and are exempted from what we do deserve (guilt and punishment). We are held in the hands of the able and almighty One.
Are you afraid? Fear not, God has given you one of the most powerful weapons a person can have - prayer. At the tail end of a description of the armour that is ours for donning and protection, Paul gives an exhortation to pray in the Spirit (with His help, with His insight, with His wisdom understanding). If you suffer, if you are afraid, if you wonder that God will be there, if you wonder why God seems to have left, pray; pray with the help of the Spirit. He knows all and He understands what you need more than you know.
Scripture References
Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. (Genesis 34:25 NIV)
And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. (1 Thessalonians 3:2)
Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. (Ephesians 6:18 BSB)
And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church (Ephesians 1:22 ESV)
He is the head over every power and authority. (Colossians 2:10 NIV)
Not everyone is a good person. Not everyone is looking out for your best interests. In fact, there are those around us with malicious intentions and who may even act to bring harm. It’s the world we live in today. It’s been this way since the beginning actually.
In a garden we read of an evil creature who had mal-intent towards the perfect and good Creator and sought to brought harm to Him by harming those the Creator cared about. This event has found its way into our classic stories of revenge - harm me and I’ll harm what you care about. And this evil creature (Satan, the devil) continues his work through people. Cain kills Abel, Jacob’s sons exact revenge on men who harmed their sister, religious leaders conspire to kill the Son of God, and there are many other such stories of revenge and harm.
Have you ever been threatened? Do you ever fear of retribution from a crazed individual? Do you know that we live in a world that seems unstable and ready to break at any moment? Things may seem at their worst at times, but fear not for God has given us a gift. The church, through the centuries, has suffered persecution from evil men and lies from deceivers, but in the midst of all of that, we have Someone who is sovereign and wise in our corner. Jesus is head over all things and He is ours.
Nothing gets past Him. Nothing surprises Him. All things work together for those of us who love Him, those of use who are called by Him. Random acts of violence? Not for the children of God who trust in Him. Purposeless suffering? Not for the adopted child of a loving Father. Just getting what we deserve? No, we get what we don’t deserve (grace and mercy) and are exempted from what we do deserve (guilt and punishment). We are held in the hands of the able and almighty One.
Are you afraid? Fear not, God has given you one of the most powerful weapons a person can have - prayer. At the tail end of a description of the armour that is ours for donning and protection, Paul gives an exhortation to pray in the Spirit (with His help, with His insight, with His wisdom understanding). If you suffer, if you are afraid, if you wonder that God will be there, if you wonder why God seems to have left, pray; pray with the help of the Spirit. He knows all and He understands what you need more than you know.
Scripture References
Three days later, while all of them were still in pain, two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, took their swords and attacked the unsuspecting city, killing every male. (Genesis 34:25 NIV)
And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. (1 Thessalonians 3:2)
Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. (Ephesians 6:18 BSB)
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