{"id":25720,"date":"2019-05-18T03:30:29","date_gmt":"2019-05-18T10:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/?p=25720"},"modified":"2019-05-16T14:50:22","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T21:50:22","slug":"may-18-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2019\/05\/18\/may-18-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"May 18, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cAnd He said to them, \u2018It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.\u201d <\/em>Acts 1:7<\/p>\n

The Right to Decide\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h2>\n

When, O God? When will it rain\u2014when will it stop raining? When will this pain go away? When will our loved ones be saved? When will our prayers be answered? When will we hear that longed-for trumpet from the heavens?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen will You establish Your kingdom on earth?\u201d the disciples asked. They were expecting a political ruler that would make everything okay again. Surely, Christ\u2019s government would come through. Surely peace would reign on earth\u2014and would prove that they weren\u2019t fools for trusting the Father these past few years.<\/p>\n

Jesus doesn\u2019t answer their questions, except to say, \u201cOnly the Father gets to decide.\u201d He knows how long it will be. He knows we are waiting for life to get better, for people to believe in Him, for the times and seasons of life.<\/p>\n

We can take comfort in His perfect knowledge of all things\u2014but this verse is saying so much more than that. It is saying that He not only knows, but He has AUTHORITY over the situations. He isn\u2019t sitting and wringing His hands over man\u2019s sin. He isn\u2019t wondering what to do next. No\u2014He has everything under His control. That\u2019s what having authority means: someone invested with power\u2014someone with the ability to DO. God, Who is self-created, has invested Himself with all authority.<\/p>\n

To express the idea of authority in a simple way, let\u2019s look at one familiar example: the water cycle. God has \u201cauthored\u201d the evaporation\/precipitation processes that send rain to the earth, and because He is the \u201cauthor,\u201d He has \u201cauthority\u201d. He gets to make all decisions about it. He has authority over every aspect of the cycle\u2014clouds, winds, high and low elevations, waters, gravity, planets, sunlight\u2014everything that affects how it all works. He created every process, all the timing, seasons, days and nights\u2014all choreographed as if it was an intricate dance. If one little thing goes wrong (which it never will because God has authority over it), it will all fall apart.<\/p>\n

All of life is this way. The Author has authority. So when we ask \u201cWhen? How? Why?\u201d, we can be sure God is in control of it. He has decided when, how, and why. We can ask Him, but we can\u2019t argue about the answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, may You be blessed forever. We are in awe of You\u2014Your thoughtful creativity, Your creative thoughtfulness. We are unceasingly thankful that all things will come to pass exactly according to Your sovereign will. Help us be patient and content, always looking towards You. In Jesus\u2019 Name, Amen.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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