Tent Cord Plucked Up
February 28, 2005
“Is not their tent cord plucked up within them…” Job 4:21
The thing that I notice often in my own life and in Christianity is the lack of understanding and grappling of the great truth concerning the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God simply states that all things, whatever they may be, are under divine control and appointment. Christians great and small would do well to understand this attribute as it would adversely affect their entire lives.
I notice many young military men and woman in our Armed Forces who hate their jobs. They complain and do all that they can to find a way out and to break commitment. I would like to speak concerning our generations failure to commit to anything, but that is another quiet time. Yet, when I hear these grievances this flashes through my mind:
“Who is God to you?”
Is God not sustaining the universe by His powerful Word? Does God not uphold our bodies daily, allowing blood to flow to billions of cells, continuing our daily needs, and allowing us to wake up every morning by His power? God does not simply wind-up the watch of the universe and simply let it run down as if He has no control any longer. God is the “Unmoved Mover” of all events. God is the planner of every episode, situation, and circumstance. There are no maverick molecules or atoms running loose without sovereignty letting them run freely through the creation. There are no run-away trains that Christ has not allowed to run-away. Who do you think God is? Is He biting His nails and reacting to mankind? No! He is the cause of the effect and the 1st Cause of the universe and is not distant. He is transcendent and deeply involved with every aspect of His creation, both you and I and all our happenings. Therefore, wherever we may be, it is for our good. When we attempt to change our commitments, we are saying in effect, “God, I can run the show better than you, I can, I should, I will, I want, I desire, I feel,…all above what you want. You run my life like poop! And I need to change it, not seeing or contemplating what God may be doing, what sin He is trying to boil to the surface from the darkened side of your heart.
Yet within our heart we feel as if our tent-cords have been plucked up within. The tent cord was used to hold down the tent, to provide shelter from the sand and the wind and the elements of nature. Yet, in our thinking, we forget and/or are unaware of God’s dealings and actions in the entire realm of our lives. We get angry at coworkers and we curse. We loose our cool because or tents cords have been plucked up within. We loose our stability, our shelter, and our tempers. We are baggy-tent Christians because we have not yet understood the sovereignty of God. We have grounded our knowledge of God in sandy secular grounds of catchphrases like the “Big Man upstairs,” and unrealistic expression like “He’s got my back.” God doesn’t simply have our backs, He has all things and all things are His. He is not the “Big Man Upstairs” as if we should use His name lightly. He is the Sovereign LORD of the universe!
Maybe we all need to pound firmly into our minds the tent-stake of God’s sovereignty. We will all face hardship. Our understanding that God is working all things for good, for those that love Him, by His sovereign purposes, is critical to resting our anxieties and everyday troubles. It is vital to our worship of God as well as we worship Him not only in spirit but in the truth that He is sovereign.
O’ sovereign Lord, let me not have dis’cord’ in my heart to everyday problems. The whirlwinds of life blast against my tent in attempt to pluck up my stability and witness as I sojourn in this world for You. Impress Your sovereignty into the way I view my circumstances thru the saturation of Your Word. Ground my security and shelter in Christ. Take the nails of Christ, who sovereignly went to the cross for me, and hammer them into my tent cord so to rest assure during trial and testing that all things are given to me by your hand. I will exclaim and say as Job, “Shall I receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” All experiences are ours in Christ to become like Him as God sovereignly directs. Whether the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future---all are ours. (Job 2:10, 1 Corinthians 3:22).
Blessings everyone.
February 28, 2005
“Is not their tent cord plucked up within them…” Job 4:21
The thing that I notice often in my own life and in Christianity is the lack of understanding and grappling of the great truth concerning the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God simply states that all things, whatever they may be, are under divine control and appointment. Christians great and small would do well to understand this attribute as it would adversely affect their entire lives.
I notice many young military men and woman in our Armed Forces who hate their jobs. They complain and do all that they can to find a way out and to break commitment. I would like to speak concerning our generations failure to commit to anything, but that is another quiet time. Yet, when I hear these grievances this flashes through my mind:
“Who is God to you?”
Is God not sustaining the universe by His powerful Word? Does God not uphold our bodies daily, allowing blood to flow to billions of cells, continuing our daily needs, and allowing us to wake up every morning by His power? God does not simply wind-up the watch of the universe and simply let it run down as if He has no control any longer. God is the “Unmoved Mover” of all events. God is the planner of every episode, situation, and circumstance. There are no maverick molecules or atoms running loose without sovereignty letting them run freely through the creation. There are no run-away trains that Christ has not allowed to run-away. Who do you think God is? Is He biting His nails and reacting to mankind? No! He is the cause of the effect and the 1st Cause of the universe and is not distant. He is transcendent and deeply involved with every aspect of His creation, both you and I and all our happenings. Therefore, wherever we may be, it is for our good. When we attempt to change our commitments, we are saying in effect, “God, I can run the show better than you, I can, I should, I will, I want, I desire, I feel,…all above what you want. You run my life like poop! And I need to change it, not seeing or contemplating what God may be doing, what sin He is trying to boil to the surface from the darkened side of your heart.
Yet within our heart we feel as if our tent-cords have been plucked up within. The tent cord was used to hold down the tent, to provide shelter from the sand and the wind and the elements of nature. Yet, in our thinking, we forget and/or are unaware of God’s dealings and actions in the entire realm of our lives. We get angry at coworkers and we curse. We loose our cool because or tents cords have been plucked up within. We loose our stability, our shelter, and our tempers. We are baggy-tent Christians because we have not yet understood the sovereignty of God. We have grounded our knowledge of God in sandy secular grounds of catchphrases like the “Big Man upstairs,” and unrealistic expression like “He’s got my back.” God doesn’t simply have our backs, He has all things and all things are His. He is not the “Big Man Upstairs” as if we should use His name lightly. He is the Sovereign LORD of the universe!
Maybe we all need to pound firmly into our minds the tent-stake of God’s sovereignty. We will all face hardship. Our understanding that God is working all things for good, for those that love Him, by His sovereign purposes, is critical to resting our anxieties and everyday troubles. It is vital to our worship of God as well as we worship Him not only in spirit but in the truth that He is sovereign.
O’ sovereign Lord, let me not have dis’cord’ in my heart to everyday problems. The whirlwinds of life blast against my tent in attempt to pluck up my stability and witness as I sojourn in this world for You. Impress Your sovereignty into the way I view my circumstances thru the saturation of Your Word. Ground my security and shelter in Christ. Take the nails of Christ, who sovereignly went to the cross for me, and hammer them into my tent cord so to rest assure during trial and testing that all things are given to me by your hand. I will exclaim and say as Job, “Shall I receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” All experiences are ours in Christ to become like Him as God sovereignly directs. Whether the world, or life, or death, or the present, or the future---all are ours. (Job 2:10, 1 Corinthians 3:22).
Blessings everyone.
