The Lord is Lord, indeed
by Rev Dr Noel Due
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No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the Lord (Proverbs 21:30).
Read Proverbs 21:30–22:6
The very first verse in the section is today’s focal verse. It encapsulates a theme that runs throughout the Bible: the all-sustaining sovereignty of God.
God created the world without any human agency. All things owe their existence to him. We might imitate him by being creative in art, music or literature. But we cannot create the earth on which we stand, the colours with which we paint, or the clay we mould into a pot.
In contrast, God creates all things out of nothing. Including us. Because God is the creator of all things, he sustains and keeps all things. Nothing fashioned against him can overthrow him. No element of the creation can defeat his goodness. No evil purpose under heaven can toss him out of heaven. And no purpose he has planned can be thwarted.
That is very good news for us!
Paul puts it this way:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38,39).
Jesus put it like this:
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one (John 10:27–30).
God’s sovereignty is not a threat to our freedom. Instead, it’s the absolute guarantee of it. And we can rest in that security all the days of our lives right up to our last breath.
Thank you, Father, for bringing all things into being, even me. Thank you for sustaining all things by the word of your power, even me, this day. Thank you for being the Lord of all the details, even in my life. Thank you that no one and nothing can snatch me out of your hand. Amen.
Noel is currently spending his retirement serving as the Intentional Interim Pastor of the Top End Lutheran Parish. He lives in Darwin with his wife, Kirsten, a medical doctor who mainly works in remote Indigenous communities. He also serves as a professional supervisor for a number of pastors, chaplains and others.
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