Welcome aboard the cruise ship called Life!

This past Sunday, we visited Calvary Church here in Charlotte; and the pastor, Dr. John Munro, gave an interesting sermon about why the world is the way it is when God is supposed to be so good and loving. He basically covered two basic truths:

1) God is soverign - meaning He does what pleases Him...after all, He did create the universe right? Daniel 4:35&37 say, "He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: 'What have you done?'...Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just." God does what He wants, but His will is never sadistic...He is a just God...

2) We are responsible for our actions - You learned it in school: every action has a reaction. Galations 6:7 says, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. " It's a simple truth...for every act, there is a consequence, good or bad. We make choices in this life, and those choices we make affect our lives and the lives of those around us. Things are often bad on this world because...well...we mess it up!

But Dr. Munro put these two items together into a very awesome illustration, in my opinion: a cruise ship. Now think about it: a cruise ship is MASSIVE...a city on the sea, so to speak. But that ship is controlled by a Captain...and that Captain is in charge at all times. A passenger can't go up to give their opinion on which way the ship should be going...that's the Captain's job. But within the ship, there is freedom: if you want to eat, you can eat. If you want to catch a show, you can do that. The same goes for swimming, catching sun, working out, or just taking a nice nap. You're free to do it all on the cruise ship. Get it? We run around this planet doing as we please...but God is still in control. He's still the Captain of this cruise ship we call life. I think we need to put those two points together: God's control and our actions. Instead of making blind decisions, we need to make them based on what God wants. That way, all things will work in harmony in the Lord...and He will bless it! I think you'll find that if you do things within God's will, it'll all work out well. Just listen to God's instruction (aka the Bible) and heed what Proverbs 16: 20 says, "Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is He who trusts in the Lord."