Key Bible Verse: I know, O Lord, that your decisions are fair; you disciplined me because I needed it (Psalm 119:75). Bonus Reading: Job 9:4-7, 12

The missionary aircraft piloted by Jim Bowers was blown out of the sky by a Peruvian jet in April 2001, killing his wife Roni and their infant daughter Charity. Humanly speaking, it was a tragedy that never should have happened. Many bullets sprayed the tiny plane, but a single one took the life of his wife and daughter. Looking back, Jim Bowers called it a "sovereign bullet."

Only a man who knows God can say a thing like that. But that's exactly what the psalmist is saying in [today's Key Bible Verse]. As he looks back over his life—the good times and bad, the happy days and sad nights—he knows that all that has happened to him isn't by chance, fate, or some cosmic roulette. Nothing can happen to him that God has not faithfully planned for his own glory and his children's ultimate benefit.

Jim Bowers declared his total faith in God's sovereignty in the death of his wife and daughter. "Nothing bad happened to them," he said. "They got to heaven quicker than we did." Those are the words of a man who, out of great personal loss, has rested his faith in the promises of God. Even the worst tragedy doesn't appear as such when viewed from heaven's perspective.

—Ray Pritchard in The God You Can Trust

My Response: Could I rest my faith in God's promises while undergoing great personal loss?

Thought to Apply: Either I'm going to get bent and eventually bitter, or I'm going to allow God to be God.—James MacDonald (Illinois pastor)

Adapted from The God You Can Trust (Harvest, 2003) by permission.

Prayer for the Week

Deliver me, sovereign Lord, from attempting to manage You. Help me to honor You by trusting and submitting to Your control.

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