I was recently asked to write a few words on the personal nature of God, why it matters, and how it is encouraging in my personal life and ministry. Here’s what I came up with. Hope it encourages you!
There are countless implications of the personal nature of God, but the one that is most impactful to me at this point is the fact that God cares about every detail of my life. I have often marveled over passages highlighting the sovereignty of God in merely cerebral ways. The concept of God determining the bounds of the universe, sustaining every molecule, knowing the minds of all people, and orchestrating all events is fascinating. It is awesome to consider, according to Ephesians 1:11, that God “works all things after the counsel of His will.”
As I grow older physically and spiritually, however, I am also realizing just how awesome it is that God’s sovereignty has a personal touch to it. As the surrounding context of Ephesians 1 tells me, God’s orchestration of all things involves, as one of its goals, granting me an inheritance, a hope, and a future in Christ. Every part of my life, the good, the bad, the victories, the defeats, the successes, the failures, all of it plays out according to the counsel of God’s will. And, it is all intended to take me deeper in my relationship with Christ. God is personally participating in every part of my life, every moment of every day. I am thankful for undeserved grace!
As an overflow, I am regularly privileged to share the same truth with counselees for their encouragement. Everyone who comes to me for counsel is struggling, to one degree or another, with where God has them in life. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t come. I am delighted to share this truth with them and to watch their reaction as they realize that God is indeed involved in what they are going through, and that He does in fact love them!