If the LORD is Sovereign (that is, if He is in absolute, complete control over and in everything), which the Bible makes clear that He is, then we should not merely believe it, but delight in it (Him).  For if we see something as true, but not sweet, then we will never truly worship God for it.  And we must see that if it is true of God, then it must be sweet!  So, in an attempt to see and savor the sweet and sweeping sovereignty of God, let us apply it to children.  This first part, of a two-part post, will focus on God being sovereign over the life and death of children.

SOVEREIGN OVER LIFE

Despite what we may often think, we are not in control… of anything.  Probably one of the most common of areas where this is made abundantly clear is in conceiving a child.  For many couples getting pregnant seems almost too easy, but for many others it seems impossible.  The fact is, it is impossible for anyone and everyone if the Almighty Creator does not grant it.   This is so, because the Sovereign God alone opens and closes the womb.

Probably the most famous of passages in regard to this is Psalm 139.  In this Psalm, David praises the LORD for being the One who formed him, knitted him, and made him (vv. 13-15).  Surely David was not ignorant of the physical act that causes pregnancy, but he was also not ignorant of the Primary Cause (God) that works in and through the secondary causes to accomplish His eternal plans (Prov. 19:21).

Sweet and Practical Applications:

Psalm 127:3 — Children are a gracious GIFT from the LORD.  Thus, those who have children should be thankful and humbled by God’s mercy.  And those who do not have children should not think that God is being unfair to them because He has not given them what no one deserves.

Luke 1:36-37 — Nothing is impossible with God; not even infertility problems.  (Jer. 32:17).

Genesis 29:31; 30:1-2, 22 — God is compassionate and kind.  As your Father, He knows and cares about your pain, sorrow, and yearnings.  (I Peter 5:6-7).

Genesis 20:17-18; 25:21 — If you long for children, then you should pray for children with humility, knowing that we cannot demand and can never deserve to have a good and perfect gift of a child.  We should pray trusting in God’s omnipotence, wisdom, and loving-kindness.  (Matt. 7:7-11; James 4:4-8).

Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!” (Ps. 27:14)

SOVEREIGN IN DEATH

Reasoning from the fact that God is sovereign over the life of children, it only makes sense that He would also be sovereign in their death.  Again, King David knew this as he states in verse 16 of the 139th Psalm: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them.”

No one has ever or can ever live one millisecond beyond what the Creator has ordained for them.  Whether a child lives merely minutes after conception or lives to be 969 years old as Methuselah was (Gen. 5:27), the day of their death is in His perfect timing.  (Ecc. 3:1-2a, 11a).

My wife and I were more than elated when we found out that we were pregnant with our first child.  And we were more than devastated when we found out that we had lost our baby.  God graciously gave us 12 weeks to get to know our little one in the womb before we had a miscarriage.  Our first baby was to be born on Thanksgiving Day 2006, but God, in His Holy, Wise, and Loving plans had sovereignly ordained that our child die before their birth.

Even now the pain is real to me.  And it is good for us to know that we can be pained by the providence of God and at the same time give true worship to the providential One, only by faith.  David shows us this in II Samuel 12, upon the death of his child.  Job shows us this in Job 1:20-22; 2:9-10, upon the death of all of his children.

One of the things that the Holy Spirit used to comfort us and lead us to worship Him in faith during our mourning was the countless Scriptures that give so much comfort and peace and hope and joy and focus.  One such passage was Psalm 94, especially verses 12-14 and 17-19 — “When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” (v. 19).

Another merciful miracle that our Heavenly Father gave to us so that we could worship God even because of this heart-breaking tragedy was that our second child, our first born, was conceived before our first child was due to be born.  In essence, our first born, Ethan, could never have been born if we wouldn’t have had our miscarriage.  Now of course one life does not outweigh another, but it is inconceivable to us that we might not have had our firstborn son.  This was truly one of God’s ways that He sovereignly and graciously chose to comfort us and bring us joy and perspective.

But the best reason why we can worship God in the face of the horrible enemy of death is because we have hope (Heb. 6:13-20; Rom. 5:1-11).  This hope is only found in Jesus Christ who conquered death (Rom. 6:9-10; I Cor. 15:53-57; Rev. 1:17-18)!  He is the One who has life in Himself (John 1:4a; 5:26; 11:25)!  Focusing on the cross and the resurrection of Jesus gives us more reason than we could ever need to worship our sovereignly gracious Savior!

For all of this we must pray that the Sovereign LORD would grant that those who have children can be sensitive to those who do not and those who do not can be understanding with those who do.  And that all of us can sincerely mourn with those who mourn and rejoice with those who rejoice (Rom. 12:15).  And that all of us will bow down in humble, faith-filled worship to the One who is Sovereign over Life and in Death, even of our children.