1Thess 5.18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

We were singing a worship song at church proclaiming the wonderful Names of God. At the end of one stanza, there was a line that included the words, “Lord of everything!” I shared with our church family how those words ministered to my heart. I trust that they minister to yours this morning as well. Beloved, Jesus IS Lord in everything. That is not to mean that His the cause of everything. The bible tells us about the mystery of iniquity. That mystery has puzzled theologians for centuries. We know what sin is. We see it’s tragic consequences all around us. But exactly how sin and it’s ravaging effects could have been created or brought into this world by an absolutely holy and pure God is indeed a mystery.

I said that because there is a tendency to be going through difficult or hard times in life, and throw up our hands and “accept” everything as being God’s perfect will. Such is not always the case. Of course God Almighty is absolutely sovereign in His universe, but that does not mean that He is the Author and Finisher of all disasters and diseases. When Jesus was on earth, He was the earthly manifestation of The Father. He went about doing His Father’s will. He delivered those who were oppressed by the devil. He healed all manner of sicknesses and diseases. Thus, we know from those miracles that there were sicknesses and demonic oppression that was not God’s will or He would not have healed them or delivered them. Sometimes, as in the blessings and curses given to Israel, we read in Scripture that hard times fall upon people because they rebel against God’s will and warnings.

God’s will and ways are not always easy to know. They are in one sense clear, but in another sense a total mystery. His secret and revealed will are only explainable to Him.  Thus, as Our Lord, we can thank Him in every situation in life, for He is Lord in everything.  But bear in mind beloved that there is a devil and temptations that are to be resisted. We are not given armor by God to “accept” everything that comes our way. Be prayerful. Be discerning. Be thankful, for in everything, Jesus IS Lord.