Of Planes, Plains and Patchworks.

Guest blogger - Karen, my incredible wife.

I remember the first time I flew in an airplane.  I looked down to see the plains and farmland of South Dakota unfold into a gorgeous patchwork quilt.  I was in awe!

That memory took on a whole new meaning for me this summer when I began studying Kay Arthur’s book Lord Only You Can Change Me.  I dug deeper into the Beatitudes than I ever had before.  The study spent a great deal of time on the quality of “Meekness”.  Meekness is defined as “the complete submission to the sovereign will of God.”

The view from the airplane was a perfect picture for me of the sovereignty of God!

The first thing I noticed  - THE PATTERN

• The flatlands of South Dakota make a pattern with mile by mile blocks.  The gravel roads form the straight stitching.
• Any quilt you see has a distinct pattern.  That’s what makes them so beautiful.

As finite human beings with limited understanding we cannot force God’s truth to fit into our pattern of thinking.

Isaiah 55:8-9 says “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  As the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

And Romans 11:33-36 says “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  Who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has been his counselor?  Who has ever given to God, the God should repay him?  For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

*We may not understand everything we see going on our lives or in the world, but make no mistake about it – It’s God’s pattern!  And God is just!

Second – THE PERSPECTIVE

• Being in an airplane gives you quite a different perspective of the lay of the land.
• You can see how the pieces fit together

We are temporal, but God views things in light of eternity.  He Himself is eternal!  He sees the big picture!

Meditate on Ecclesiastes 7:13-14.  “Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?  When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider:  God has made the one as well as the other.”

*It gives me great comfort to know that circumstances that I face in the present fit into the big plan God has for my life!  He certainly has a different perspective than I do!

Third – THE PLEASURE

• The view I had from the airplane was definitely pleasing.  I loved looking down and seeing the land that I called home and the land my family had owned for generations.
• Quilts in themselves bring great pleasure.  I have a quilt at home that was my great aunt’s.  When I look at the cloth used in the quilt, I see Aunt Lena’s dresses, aprons, and tablecloths.  Great memories and wonderful smells come back to me.  Brings me pleasure!

Likewise, God does as He pleases. Romans 8:28 reminds us “that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  And if we submit to his sovereign will for our lives the result is pleasing – conformed to His image.  Our response should be “Lord, if it pleases You, it pleases me.”  Reflect on David’s response to God’s sovereignty in Psalm 131. “My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty;  I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.  But I have stilled and quieted my soul.”  Rest in Him!

God’s sovereignty is characterized by His pattern, His perspective, and His pleasure. They all point to His POWER!  I want to leave you with Isaiah 14 verses 24 and 27.  “The Lord Almighty has sworn, Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.  For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him?  His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” 

WOW!  This was such an awesome study for me this summer.  Going through transition is hard for me.  Change and moving are not things that are easy for me.  I found delight and comfort knowing that my life is in God’s hands.  I can rest in his power and, like David, rest in His sovereign plan for my life.

Just yesterday in the car, I was listening to a Stephen Curtis Chapman CD.  A song came on with the lyrics, “God is God and I am not.  I can only see a part of the picture He’s painting. God is God and I am man, so I’ll never understand it all.  For only God is God.”