Hello friends!
I hope you had a restful and enjoyable weekend that allowed you to recharge for the week ahead. Sometimes it is really easy to use the weekends as a time to check off the to-do list and forget to take any time to rest, so I hope you made space for that.
Me and my family are currently soaking up the sun at the beach (well.. me and Dylan are staying mostly in the shade, but you get the picture lol). I included a picture of her playing with a sand bucket because I thought it was just too cute! She has been obsessed with her first beach experience and it's an absolute joy to watch!
This week we are continuing our 4 week series on contentment! Last week, we talked about the goodness of God and how important that belief is to living in contentment. We pointed out scripture that shows us God is a good, trustworthy, and genuine God that is truly for us. If you missed it, you can check out the full post from last week on the blog.
Now that we have covered the fact that God is good, I want us to look at another attribute of God’s character that will help us when trying to live in contentment. As I stated in the last blog, I believe understanding who God is a huge first step in living a life of contentment in Christ. Trusting Him and His character will make trusting Him with our lives a lot easier. God is good, and He is also is sovereign.
Contentment: Understanding that God is sovereign
You have probably heard people say that God is sovereign. But what exactly does that mean? I looked it up to get a better definition for you and this is what I found: “supreme ruler, Lord of all creation, the source of all power, to have authority over everything that exist, powerful.”
Colossians 1:16 says this:
“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.”
So how does our belief that God is sovereign affect our ability to live in contentment? The knowledge that God is sovereign should greatly impact our day to day lives. If He is sovereign, then He is 100% in control of our lives. And if that is true, we need not worry. We don’t have to live paralyzed by fear or comparison or worry, because the Lord is sovereign over all of it. What a relief! Knowing this should take a huge weight off our shoulders. Nothing gets by God, so we don’t need to try to control every aspect of our lives. We can live in contentment because we recognize who is in control (and it isn’t us). We can live in contentment because we know that God is the ruler over everything, and He is good. He is all powerful and has authority over everything that exist. If He wants something to happen, it will. If He wants to intercede on a situation, He will. God has the ability to turn everything for good, so we can trust Him with our lives and stories.
Jeremiah 32:17: “Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you.”
We have now covered two concepts that set the foundation for living a life of contentment:
1. Trusting that God is good
2. Understanding that God is sovereign
The next two weeks we will shift from talking about God's attributes to more practical actions we can take in order to live the lives of contentment we are called to live. I hope reading about God's sovereignty helped you soak in the grandness and power He has over our lives. I pray it lifts a weight off your shoulders this week, and allows you to rest in the fact someone all knowing and all powerful has you in His hands.
My prayer for you this week:
God, thank you for your character. For your goodness and for your sovereignty. I pray that everyone reading this can hold fast to these truths this week. God, I pray that in our trials and hardships, we will lean on the knowledge that you are sovereign. I pray that in our times of anxiety and worry, we can learn to let go of the hold we try to have over our own lives and learn to hand it over to you. Thank you for never leaving us and for being a good and sovereign God.
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