Reflections on sovereignty

The longer I'm a Christian, the more I realize how peace comes to our souls in direct proportion to our love and trust of God's sovereign working - saying 'yes' and finding joy in what is rather than shaking our fists at 'what is' or longing for what is not. If we're honest, great joy in God's sovereign administration of our lives in the hard and barren times is rare. Yet, according to Romans 8:28 (and, indeed, the united testimony of the entire Bible), joy and peace are found nowhere else. He really is working out all things for our good. The following quote by Jean Pierre de Caussade alerts us to the danger of doubting that fact:

"You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances and tedious annoyances really are. You would realize that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies - though that never occurs to you. Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet [God's] beloved children curse it because they do not know it for what it is."

By God's grace, let us recognize the hard, disappointing moments for what they are: gifts from a good Father, driving us back to greater dependence on Him and greater satisfaction in Christ, our true Treasure which no circumstance can tarnish or threaten.