Trusting God, Part 7

Chapter 7: God's Sovereignty and our Responsibility
Don't be anxious about anything that is out of your hands - but pray about it instead: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God" - Philippians 4:6. Without God's sovereignty our prayers would just be wishes.

After telling him to pray for his release from prison, Paul wrote to his friend Philemon: "Prepare a guest room for me, because I hope to be restored to you in answer to your prayers" (Philemon 22). God's sovereignty makes it possible for us to pray with confidence

God had anointed David to succeed Saul as King (1 Samuel 16:13) but Saul wanted to kill David. David didn't just presume God's sovereignty, but rather acted prudently in dependence upon God to bless his efforts. We should not use God's sovereignty as an excuse to evade the duties that have been given to us in scripture. Nehemiah 4:20 says "Our God will fight for us", but God's people were still ready to fight. Again, we still have responsibilities.

A person's plans can only succeed within the sovereign will of God (Proverbs 16:9). We must depend on God for what we cannot do ourselves. But God does not replace the builders/watchmen but rather he helps and enables them as seen in Psalm 127:1:

• "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain."
• "Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain."

There are times when we can do nothing, and there are also times when we must work. We should be just as dependent on God when we are healthy as when we are sick; when we have food in the cupboard and have a job as when we have nothing.

"If a man is lazy, the rafters sag; if his hands are idle, the house leaks" - Ecclesiastes 10:18