How many times in the past couple of years have we looked at the world and thought, “Is this really happening?”

Sometimes I can’t quite believe the world has changed like it has. I sometimes still feel like there’s a way back or like all of this is some strange dream. And then when I realize once again that it is in fact real, I might feel sadness. Or anger. I might want to cry, “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be!”

In those moments, I often remind myself of a quote from C.S. Lewis — who went from being a student at Oxford to a teenage soldier in the trenches of World War I. Lewis said : “The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own,’ or ‘real’ life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life — the life God is sending one day by day.”

I believe Mr. Lewis was onto something here. God is sovereign, and the only life I have is the life he sends me day by day. I can plan and make wise or unwise choices, but the Bible is clear about God being in control.

When bad things happen or when my life isn’t going how I planned, it’s helpful for me to remind myself that this is the life God is sending me, and in every situation, God grants me the opportunity to trust him. And trusting God is where true life, real life, is found.

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” Colossians 1:16, 17

Your Turn: How do you lean on God’s sovereignty?