Begin with two minutes of silence and stillness before God.
Do you like to be in charge? Whether you answered yes or no, the one thing we all like to be in charge of is our lives. We dedicate our lives to planning our next move and working hard to see it come to fruition. Our spiritual walk requires the same hard work and dedication, but we can find ourselves making our own path without ever including God. I’m always trying to force the square shape into the circular hole. It’s easy to make my spiritual walk one that is all about “ME.” I can choose to do things my way in order to “help” God reach the desired goal. We like to be the captain of the ship and decide where to chart our course. And because we let God ride with us, we think we have done something noble. We like to steer the ship towards the comfortable, the familiar, and what suits our schedule best. Chapter 9 reveals an important truth regarding this power struggle.
There is a lot to take in in Chapter 9, but the overarching theme is that the God we serve is a sovereign God. Now, whether you grew up in church, came once that time they had a potluck dinner, or had nothing to do with church, you may have heard the word “sovereign.” It’s one of those words that creep into your vocabulary and stay there without ever truly explaining itself. What is a sovereign, and where can I buy one? According to a quick Google search, sovereign is “to possess supreme or ultimate power; acting or done independently and without outside interference.” Sovereignty is the ultimate overseer, or authority, in the decision-making process. As you read Scripture, you come to this realization: while we don’t have the answers or understanding for everything, God does.
I want to look at verses 6-13. Here, Paul is referencing the story of Abraham and speaking of the chosen nation of Israel. In verse 8, he says, “It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” In Genesis 15, Abram, not yet Abraham, was promised by God to be the father of many descendants. Impatiently awaiting spiritual intervention and seeking to bring about God’s promised son, Abram has a child with Sarai’s maid, Hagar. Hagar gives birth to Ishmael, or the child of the flesh, rather than the child of the promise. In Genesis 17, Abraham is promised a son by Sarah(formerly known as Sarai), and through spiritual intervention (Alexa, play “God’s Plan"), Isaac is born. If you recall, it is from the line of Isaac that the son promised by God - the son of God - Jesus, was born. You know...the One who was sent to save us all? Paul says in Galatians 4:28-29, “You [Christians], like Isaac, are children of promise.” You are “born according to the Spirit,” not according to the flesh.
Instead of trusting the will of a sovereign God, we want to do things our way, as seen by Abraham and Sarah. If I go left or right, choose right or wrong, God knows which decision I make. I can look back on my life and see how God has used every circumstance to lead me to where I am today. Jesus died for us and then rose again. I have never died, and I suspect when I do, you won’t see me walking around a few days later. Doesn’t that truth alone mean I have to follow Him and everything He says with reckless abandon? Follow Him, continue to work out your faith in Him, but always look to the sovereign God for the decisive, supernatural work. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord.” Proverbs 21:31
Take two minutes to reflect in silence.