Hello First Family,

Code Word: “Sovereign”  

“Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer, You shield my head in the day of battle.” Psalm 140:7

If ever there was a time in history where God’s sovereignty was on full display, it was certainly on Good Friday – the day each year that Christians all over the world remember Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.  On the night before, Jesus spent the evening having a meal with His disciples.  And on that night, He talked about His death and His betrayer Judas was revealed.  It was a very dark time and Jesus was clearly troubled as He went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane later that night.  In Matthew 26:38, Jesus told His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

It is common for us to feel overwhelmed at times by the circumstances of life.  When we are under great stress and anxiety because of difficult trials, it can affect us in so many ways – both spiritually and physically.  But the great thing about our Savior is that He knows how we feel and He can identify with our suffering because He went through great suffering on the way to the cross.  Isaiah 53:3 says, “He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

We are living through trying times now in our world and there are challenging days ahead as we face difficulties that we have never seen before.  However, we have a blueprint directly from scripture on how we should handle times of anxiety, stress, and uncertainty.  Even through His deep sorrow and pain, Jesus demonstrated the proper response when He said with great humility in Matthew 26:39, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

Jesus kept His eye on God’s purposes because He understood that God is sovereign over His creation.  God is in complete control and His plans are always perfect – even in the darkest of times.  So on this day when we remember what Jesus went through on the cross as He took the sins of the world upon Himself, let us also remember that our sorrows are temporary and that Jesus defeated the power of sin and death through His resurrection on Easter Sunday!!

“To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen.” Jude 25

See you tomorrow on our Journey to the Cross,

Pastor Aaron