One-hundred and Eighty Degrees to God’s Sovereignty

“Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

C.S. Lewis- The Weight of Glory

I find myself ‘far too easily pleased’ quite often. But, the most beautiful thing is that God is faithful and Sovereign. I ask myself where I would be if God were not sovereign, and I cringe; so much has happened in my life that I didn’t plan for, and especially didn’t like at the time, but I look back now and see that I was shaped into the person I am today through my most painful and uncomfortable experiences. God’s divine timing and planning are so much different than our human minds can comprehend, and more often than not, we don’t like God’s timing as we’re going through different things, but when we live life with a divine perspective, we can see the good that comes from all of our “bad” experiences, and they no longer seem so terrible. It all comes down to the perspective with which you live you life. C.S. Lewis once said, “Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you get neither.” If we live our lives with eternity in view, we don’t get hung up on the painful experiences, because we know that “all things work together for the good of those who love God. (Romans 8:28)”

I’ve been taught in the past few months that God will, even subconsciously, use experiences to completely alter the paths of our lives. At graduation (in May), I saw myself moving away to Virginia, getting a Bachelor’s degree in History, and going on to law school. Right now, I’m attending USF (right near my house), living at home, getting a Bachelor’s of Arts and Sciences in Biomedical Sciences, and going on to medical school. Pretty much a 180, eh? But, my mum and I were talking, and the path that led to this change was so interesting and such a testimony to God’s faithfulness. God used an anonymous donor in order to make it possible for my senior class to go to New York, which in turn triggered something within me (subconsciously, of course) that made me not want to leave, (now, it is important to note that this path and sequence was not discovered until a couple of days ago, and not by me). I came back with a small desire not to leave home, that ended up growing into a full-blown “anti-leaving” campaign. And the rest is still being written. I don’t know exactly what God has planned for my life, but I do know that he is faithful, and that the plans that he has for my life are so much bigger and better than anything I could imagine. I am committed, from here on out, not to live life being “too easily pleased,” but to live life with an eternal perspective and to be ready to lay down my own plans at the feet of God and not to be afraid, but excited. Because the peace and happiness I feel now is so incredibly powerful that I can’t help but to be excited about my life and my future.

With Peace only God can Bring,

M