Devotionals by Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny. The more words you speak, the less they mean. So what good are they? In the few days of our meaningless lives, who knows how our days can best be spent? Our lives are like a shadow. Who can tell what will happen on this earth after we are gone? (Ecclesiastes 6:10-12)
Solomon writes “Whatever exists has already been named” (Ecclesiastes 6:10 NASB). His first observation then is: God is sovereign. At the heart of life’s major struggles is a theological issue. Putting it in the form of a question: Is God in charge or is He not?
Solomon continues his journal entry: “and it is known what man is” (6:10 NASB). This second observation is: Mankind is not sovereign. Let’s put it another way. God is the potter; we are the clay. God is infinite; we are finite. God is all-powerful; we are limited in strength and ability. God is faithful; we are unfaithful and inconsistent, irresponsible, fractured, and so often confused. The point is clear: We may be a lot of things, but sovereign is not one of them! “For he cannot dispute with him who is stronger than he is. For there are many words which increase futility. What then is the advantage to a man?” (6:10–11 NASB 1995).
The third observation is: Disputing is a waste of time and effort. C, S. Lewis said it well: “When you are arguing against Him you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all.”1
So long as I fight the hand of God, I do not learn the lessons He is attempting to place before me. Everything that touches me comes through the hand of my heavenly Father who continues to love me, who continues to maintain control of my life, who continues to be totally responsible for my life. He does the same with all His created things. That’s why He’s God!
I encourage you to put this issue to rest. Come to terms with it. Recognize and confess how futile it is to fight against the sovereign hand of God. That is one of the greatest things that has reduced my anxiety level in the ministry. When I find myself getting anxious again, it is usually because the size of mankind has gotten greater than the size of my God. The horizontal has overshadowed the vertical, and I have momentarily lost sight of who is still on the throne. Even a capable, strong-willed king named Solomon had to admit his inability to fight a winning battle against the living God.
1. C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, rev. and enlarged ed. (New York: Collier Books, Macmillan Publishing, 1952), 53.
Taken from Living on the Ragged Edge by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 1985, 2004 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
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Join the millions who listen to the lively messages of Pastor Chuck Swindoll, a down-to-earth pastor who communicates God’s truth in understandable and practical terms, with a good dose of humor thrown in. Chuck’s messages help you apply the Bible to your own life.
About Pastor Chuck Swindoll
For most of his entire life, Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted himself to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God's Word — anchoring every message in the transforming power of God's amazing grace. From congregations on the East Coast to the West Coast, his ministry has carried that message across the country, ultimately taking root in Frisco, Texas, where he founded Stonebriar Community Church. Yet Chuck's influence has never been confined to a single sanctuary. Since 1979, Chuck’s messages have aired on Insight for Living, one of the most widely heard programs in Christian broadcasting, carrying his voice — and the timeless truth of Scripture — to listeners around the world. That same passion for God's Word has shaped his leadership at Dallas Theological Seminary, where his tenure as president and now chancellor emeritus has helped raise up a new generation of men and women equipped and called to ministry. Few lives have touched so many, across so many places, for so long.
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