Summary: Mother's Day is especially painful when your heart is longing for a baby. So on this week leading up to Mother's Day, a week that feels difficult, impossible even, I imagine you might be feeling like the Psalmist in Psalm 77 when he says: “in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints.” Maybe you feel far away from God. Maybe you feel like He is punishing you. Maybe you feel like He has forgotten to be gracious. Maybe you feel like His faithfulness has come to an end and that He is no longer compassionate. Spend the next few days with me as we diligently make an effort to remember the God we love and serve. Just like the Psalmist in Psalm 77 when, after his seemingly harsh lament towards God, says very decisively, “Then I said, ‘I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.’" (meaning I will call to mind all the ways I have seen Him work and what I know to be true from my past) and the psalmist goes on to say: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” Let’s spend a few minutes together each morning this week intentionally remembering who God is and what that means for us personally. DAY 03 : GOD IS SOVEREIGN Daniel 4:34-35 "At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”" Psalm 115:3 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Psalm 135:5-7 For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. He it is who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses. What does this truth about who God is, that He is Sovereign, mean for me and mean for you? First, let’s talk about what the word Sovereign means -- if we were to look it up in a dictionary we would see “supreme ruler” or possessing “supreme or ultimate authority or power” But what does that mean when we apply it to God? It means that He is the ultimate source of all power, authority and everything that exists. It means that there is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority because He is over all and above all. He has no limitations. This attribute of God, His being sovereign, over all and above all, supreme and ultimate power and authority, is what makes Him superior to all other gods and makes Him, and Him alone, worthy of worship. Worthy of our trust. So what does that mean for you and me today; how does God being sovereign help me in the middle of my pain? In the middle of my paralyzing fear? It means that if He is over all and above all, and if nothing happens in the universe that is outside of His authority or His control then I am safe. It means I don’t have to be afraid or live in fear because He is in control. It means I can live with a joy even amidst my pain because I know that He has not forgotten me, He sees me, He loves me more deeply than I can ever imagine so I can trust that what is in front of me can be used for my good and His glory. Even when it hurts. --- THE JOYFUL MOURNING COMMUNITY: www.thejoyfulmourningcommunity.com THE JOYFUL MORNING INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/thejoyfulmorning SHOW NOTES: www.themorning.com/specialepisode03
