A New Take on Lord of All
So much has happened since my last post. Lessons learned, failures, successes, laughter at cats, frustration with car, answered prayers, enjoying fellowship, my 59th birthday celebrated over several days, work, overtime, pain, tiredness, rushing here and there, up times, down times, good times, sad times, noisy times, quiet times.
What do they all have in common? Jesus is Lord of each and every moment of each and every day—all of it! As I think of this I’m reminded of the old Rogers and Hammerstein song from Oklahoma, “All or Nothing.” Will sings,
With me, it’s all er nuthin’!
Is it all er nuthin’ with you?
It cain’t be “in between”
It cain’t be “now and then”
No half-and-half romance will do!
…
If you cain’t give me all, give me nuthin’—
And nuthin’s what you’ll git from me!
Then Ado Annie sings back, “Not even somethin’?!”
And Will retorts, “Nothin’s what you’ll git from me!”
You’re probably thinking as you read these lyrics, ‘huh? How do these words remind her of God?!’
When we are involved in a romance, we want “all.” Yet God, who is the creator of the ultimate “romance” of wooing mankind to Himself has a totally different approach. He gives His all, even when we give back nothing. In fact, with God, it is ALL no matter what we give back. He gave His all through Jesus and has promised to never leave or forsake us.
This has hit me in a whole new way as I’ve considered the practical implications of the Lordship of Jesus in my life. Truthfully, Jesus is not Lord of every aspect of my life—at least not the way I had thought of Lordship. That is, He calls the shots, I obey, and we are done. The problem with this perspective is this: if that is how I view His Lordship, I am doomed to failure. His ways are higher than my ways. I know that His ways are good, but sooner or later sin trips me up. A bad attitude here, a complaint there, an unkind thought, a joke that hurts—and those are just the little foxes…
A friend kindly reminded me that walking in the love and grace of God means that He is also Lord of my failures and Lord of my sin. That doesn’t mean He wanted me to fail or sin, but it does mean He is still in control, He is committed to utterly loving me, forgiving me, and showering His grace on me. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, with God, it’s all and never “nuthin’.”*
As a precious sister in the Lord reminded me on a birthday card,
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24–25 ESV
What a wonderful birthday gift from the Lord, to be reminded in so many ways this week, that HE is the one who will keep me, and His love and grace is fully sufficient. Amen and Amen.
*Obviously there are other analogies one can make, for example that there is an “all” required on our part, which is faith in Jesus to begin with, but this post is focusing only on what is particularly relevant to me these days.
