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A Prayer Celebrating God’s Sovereignty and Gospel-Sanity

     At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, And he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” Dan. 4:34-35

Dear heavenly Father, I need to “bookmark” this passage and return to it often. For it doesn’t just tell the conversion story of a pagan King, it’s the ongoing story of my heart. We’re never more sane than when we lift our eyes toward heaven and focus on the occupied throne of heaven. Navel-gazing, circumstance-watching and news-fixating never serve us well.

Father, help us to understand the glorious implications of your present and perpetual enthronement. Your dominion is the only eternal dominion. November elections and political gyrations; the world economy and temperature instability; earthquakes and oil leaks; multiplied conspiracies and grassroots insurrections don’t affect your reign one micro-bit or one nanosecond.

For your kingdom endures from generation to generation. There never has been, nor will there ever be, any nervous sweat, furrowed brows, or anxious pacing in heaven; no panic or pause. There won’t be one moment of consternation or vexation, in the corridors of paradise today; no need for a plan B to emerge from the “big boardroom.”

Father, you do as you please with the powers of heaven and the peoples of earth. I praise you for marshalling the powers of heaven for the salvation of ill-deserving rebels like me, and the ultimate transformation of the entire cosmos. Though many tried to hold back your hand and many said, “What are you doing?” nevertheless you chose the sacrifice of your Son and the “foolishness” of the cross (1 Cor. 1:18) as the greatest demonstration of your sovereignty and grace.

The only King who could say, “Behold the world I have made,” is the only King who would say, “Behold the people for whom I die.” The only King who can say, “I will never leave you or forsake you”, is the only King who once said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Father, the greatest sanity is gospel-sanity. Keep us sane, Father; keep us gospel sane. We choose to lift our eyes to heaven today and fix our gaze on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith; and we cry with unfettered, unabated joy, “Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a salvation!” So very Amen we pray, in the name and for the glory of the true King, Jesus.

 

 

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