Finding Solace In His Sovereignty

My friend text me the other day because she felt sad about watching her fish die. 

Because we are currently in a severe drought, many who have ponds in our area are watching the slow, unrelenting death of an entire mini-ecosystem in their backyard. Many of us find ourselves standing at the edges of our ponds, hands hanging limply at our sides, as we watch the creeping shadow of death eclipse our backyard ponds, along with all the life that is connected to and dependent upon them. And as we watch this process, some of us ponder the symbolism behind it. 

Watching something die stimulates various emotions within us— frustration, angst, tension— all working together to create an inner-unnerving that reminds us of our total helplessness. Watching death take place, touches the deep recesses of our soul in a way that nothing else can reach. It reminds us that God is ultimately the only one who can fix all things. He is the only one who gives life…and takes it. We may amble on for a while under the illusion of control— over this world, over the church, and over our own destinies— but we will all inevitably face the infinite wall of human limitation. 

Facing this limitation includes overcoming the temptation to think that if you had just “prayed enough,” things would be different. That if you just “had more faith,” then those prayers would have been answered. I have had to face the reality that I can’t save things from death, and I can’t pray it away either. What I can do, is take my requests and my heartache and my longing to the Lord and lay it all at His feet. But ultimately, He is, and always will be, the one who is sovereign over the outworking of His creation. 

My job is to trust Him and worship Him, regardless of whether He gives life…or takes it.

(1 Sam 2:6,7) The LORD brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD sends poverty and wealth; He humbles and He exalts.

(Ps 139:16,17) Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them!

(Job 1:20,21) Then Job stood up,… fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

(Rev 1:17,18) When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.