Our dominion is small. All of us. Seriously, anyone reading this post has severe limits to their sovereignty. Think about it. Who is the most powerful person on earth? The President of the United States or some other country? Their authority knows limits. While they may have the ability to rule one piece of earth, they have no jurisdiction inside another’s country. Even the most powerful person on earth has limits to their ability to govern on this planet . . . much less the far reaches of the galaxy!
If those truths apply to the most influential people, how much more do they apply to me! I can pick the paint color of my living room, but if I tried to paint my neighbors closet, they would look at me funny (and rightly so) . . . I have no right there! If this connects with our ability to paint a room, certainly it has greater meaning on more influential matters.
Our dominions are small — even smaller than we think — and we often even give up some authority in our dominion to allow an expert to guide us through difficult circumstances. I give up some of my freedom to my doctor who instructs me on what I need to do to be healthy.
Given our relative “smallness,” isn’t it interesting how opinionated we are? We often criticize the leadership of others in politics, sports, business, and church — believing we can (or would) do better. We cannot even select a paint color for our neighbor’s house, yet somehow we think we could run the free world!
Even more relevant, however, is how people often want to criticize God for the job He is doing in running the universe. Sometimes we want to call Him unfair, unjust, or unwise because He has not done things the way we think are best. The irony is thick when we think of how we trust fallible doctors with our bodies, but we don’t trust a perfect God with our souls.
Yes, we are small . . . and God is large. And we need to remember that when we ponder the most complex issues in the universe. God has revealed great insight on these matters to us in His Word . . . but when we read it, we still have questions. “How can that be!” we sometimes ask. Though God is not required to give us an answer, He lovingly relates to us and walks with us through our struggles.
Last Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we began a series called “Family Tree” which is walking us through Romans 9-11. Last week we began a discussion about election and predestination and how they show us that our salvation is secure because it is God’s work, not ours. This topic, however, raises questions about the fairness of God. We will gather around God’s Word on Sunday to see how God answers our questions concerning the topic of predestination. Hope to see you there at 9:30 or 11:00 as we look at Romans 9:14-29 together in part 2 of our series.