One of the leaders of our ministry led his first staff meeting with the 'supreme negative'! That’s right, this supreme leader organized his papers on the lectern, looked up and then said in all seriousness, "I'm not God and neither are you." He went on to explain that though he was their leader, he wanted the staff to know he was as fallible and foolish as they were. At the time, I remember thinking, “boy, this guy has a lot of guts, talking to our staff this way.” But in the next instant, I realized he was right on. We all need to be reminded that we are not God… that we’re all very frail and very human.
Ezekiel 28 takes special pains to remind us that we are not God, although sometimes we sure act like it. It says there (and Ezekiel is speaking of the king of Tyre), he says, “Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "In the pride of your heart you say, 'I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas.' Ah, but you are a man and not a god, though you think you are as wise as a god.'” Wow, can it be that we can see ourselves in that verse?
God's judgment ended up coming down on the king of Tyre for ignoring the 'supreme negative' because the king thought he was divine. Driven and deluded by pride, he assumed that momentary control over one's circumstances was equated with sovereignty. He assumed power was equated with wisdom. He assumed that 'self' was synonymous with divinity.
Tyre's assumptions are often ours. Oh, we rarely articulate it with words like divinity or sovereignty. We're too smart for that. But we often survey our domains, however small, and we stake our god-like claim with silent declarations of the will. We’ll say, "God may control the universe, but I'll control the realm of my daydreams... God may be holy, but I'll decide when and how to confess my sin... God may have pleasures at His right hand forevermore, but for now, I'll decide what gives me kicks. God may think He has my days written in his book, but I'll sure live those days the way I feel like it. And finally, God may be the God of forgiveness, but that doesn’t mean I have to forgive my husband for the way he cheated on me." Get the picture?
The principle of the 'supreme negative' won’t be violated. God won’t allow it because we are not God. To entertain any other thought is to stand as co-conspirator with Satan. Now that’s a scary thought! Satan was, after all, the first King of Tyre, and when we are tempted, it is nothing more than Satan's kingdom testing our belief in the truth of our identity and that of God’s. I have a feeling, friend, you don’t want to have any part of that, right? And you and I should be very grateful that God will always be God. So let’s acknowledge that supreme positive by living the way he wants us to live, by making it our ambition to be holy and pleasing to Him. That way, we’re safe in knowing that we’re acting like we should: like ordinary human beings with all our weakness and frailness.
You know, sometimes it helps to see other people who are allowing God to be God as they live under his sovereignty and holiness. My friends, Captain Ryan Voltin, and his wife Pam are living like that. Captain Voltin was terribly injured in the Iraq war and his testimony is nothing short of miraculous. You can see it for yourself by visiting me today at joniandfriendsradio.org and clicking on the video I have posted of Ryan and his wife, Pam. Brace yourself to be surprised, friend… and again, that address to hear Captain Ryan and watch him share about God is joniandfriendsradio.org. Until next time, thank you for letting God be God in your life, too.
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