No question who's in charge!

It doesn't matter if you are at home, at work, church, on a sports team, or with a group of friends, it doesn't take long to determine who is REALLY in charge.  Every group has a defacto leader, someone who everyone else looks to for advice or to make final decisions when the group is weighing some options. Some of us are bold, and whether people want us to or not, we want to be in charge. Those who know me know this is true of me. Sometimes, that is a good thing, and other times, it is not. When the President of the United States walks in, they do not have to announce who is in charge. There are times, though, that it seems no one wants to be in charge. I hate groups like that. Groups like that get nothing done. Equally annoying are groups where there is a battle of wills and two or more people try to be in charge at the same time. That can get ugly pretty quickly. Most of my life I am battling with God trying to take charge!

When I was reading Ezekiel today, I recognized they had the same battle I face every day. That extreme battle between God and man determining who was in charge. I was reading the New Living Translation, and in the four chapters (29-32), God is referred to as SOVEREIGN LORD sixteen times. Eight times, the message from the Lord, through Ezekiel, ended with "Then, ______ will know that I am Sovereign Lord."

"But Egypt will remain an unimportant minor kingdom. It will be the lowliest of all the nations, never again great enough to rise above its neighbors. Then, Israel will no longer be tempted to trust in Egypt for help. Egypt's shattered condition will remind Israel of how sinful she was to trust Egypt in earlier days. Then Israel will know that I am the Sovereign Lord." (Ezekiel 29:14b -16)

Sixteen times in these short passages, Ezekiel had to remind his people that GOD was sovereign and that they were in troubled times because they did not understand that. 

How many times do I have to be reminded who is in charge? How does God remain so patient with us (me)? How many times will he tolerate us (me) trying to take charge?

"As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices  together in prayer to God. 'O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them -- you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, 'Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah.' In fact, this happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus your holy servant, who you anointed. But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.'" (Acts 4:23-28, emphasis added)

I don't understand why I battle with the Creator of the Universe, trying to take over his creation! That is just crazy! But, I do it over and over again. He even sent his son to die for me to show how much power he had. Besides creating all things, he lowered himself to a position of nothingness, and then he gave up his life for me. Then he demonstrated his amazing authority and majesty by defeating death so that I might have eternal life. The ancient rulers thought they were in charge and sentenced Jesus to death. But there was NO QUESTION WHO WAS IN CHARGE!

I have to stop battling with God. HE IS IN CHARGE. We all need to know that God is SOVEREIGN and he is Lord God! He speaks every day trying to get me to "Know that He is Sovereign over all things!"