For the next two Wednesdays I’ll be with the students at ALIVE in the stead of Pastor Adam. They have all had an opportunity to submit questions for me to answer. I got a sneak peak of the questions and wanted to ask and answer one today for the blog. In fact, there were 3 or so questions from various students that were essentially the same. The question goes something like this:
If God is sovereign (in charge/knows what will happen/etc.) why should I share the gospel (or pray/etc.)?
The answer of course is that God has decided to use people to accomplish His plans. Our prayers, evangelism, courage, faithfulness, is part of how He does what He has planned to do.
By the way, this applies not just to people who love and are serving God, but even to those who don’t! Take Cyrus as an example. Cyrus was the king of Persia, but he allowed Israel to return to their land after their kingdom was split and they went into exile by the Babylonians. It says in Ezra 1:1 that “the Lord stirred up the spirit” of Cyrus to urge him to do this. Cyrus may have become a follower of Yahweh, but I doubt it. It was God’s purpose for Israel to return to their land, but God also stirred up the spirit of Cyrus to bring this about. It even says in Isaiah 44:28 that Cyrus was one of God’s shepherds and that “he shall fulfill all my purpose.”
It’s an amazing thought. Our God is sovereign over everything and has everything working according to His plan. But He has chosen to accomplish His plans through us. What a privilege!
Pastor Jacob’s Blog 