3-Legged Stool of Stability for Difficult Times – The Three Legs
“You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in You, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” (Isaiah 26:3 NLT) The key is to have your thoughts focused on God.
The three attributes of God which the Spirit of God repeatedly uses to bring calm to me are God's sacrificial love, His infinite wisdom, and His absolute sovereignty. Understanding what each of these attributes means and how they are intrinsic to God’s nature and integral with each other brings peace and tranquility.
Sacrificial Love. John, “the apostle whom Jesus loved,” was apparently in a closer relationship with Jesus Christ on earth than others. It is John who tells us “God is love.”
Consider what the Scriptures have to say about God’s Sacrificial Love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: ‘For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:34-39 NKJV).
What would be the consequences of a god who lacked love—even a god who possessed both wisdom and sovereignty, yet lacked perfect sacrificial love? Such a god would be unpredictable and fearsome. Yet our God is complete and perfect and we read “Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18 NIV). A god without perfect love could be cruel or vindictive! The practical implication is that the God of sacrificial love is too loving to be mean. Because of who He is and His nature, He cannot be unkind!
Infinite Wisdom. God is the source of all truth and the origin of all wisdom.
Think for a moment about the God of Infinite Wisdom. “O LORD, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all. The earth is full of Your possessions” (Psalm 104:24 NKJV). “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33 NKJV). “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25 NKJV).
What if we worshipped a loving and sovereign god who lacked wisdom? Without complete and accurate insight to guide his action, we would have a god who did not fully understand circumstances, events, and relationships. In other words such a god could exercise bad judgment! Because of God’s Word we can be assured that the God of infinite wisdom is too wise to error. Because of His divine nature, He cannot make a mistake!
Absolute Sovereignty. Sovereignty means control. The Scripture tells us that God is in total control.
Another attribute of the trio is the Absolute Sovereignty of our God. “For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17 NIV). “And He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring’” (Acts 17:25-28 NIV).
What would be the impact of a god who lacked sovereignty but possessed great love and wisdom? Such a god would be a powerless god—an ineffective god, a god who meant well but was incapable of carrying out his desires. God’s absolute sovereignty assures us that He is in complete control, therefore nothing can catch Him off guard. His absolute sovereignty assures us that He cannot be surprised!
CONTEMPLATE: The three identified attributes. Are there other aspects of God’s nature that would be equally effective in dealing with anxiety?
Next time we will look further into the implications of this trio of attributes.
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