Yes, God is in control. Yes, God is Sovereign.
But what I hear hidden in this response is there is no requirement for His
Children to act, pray or otherwise be Salt & Light.
It is, IMHO, the ultimate predestination cop out, that God does and will do
everything Sovereignly without human interaction. Which He can do.
Which He will do if man, whom He has given dominion over the earth abdicates
that role.
In effect this makes us literal pawns in God's chess game without any free
will, volition or opportunity to take part.
Another word concept this engenders is meticulous control, meaning each and
every little thing is under God's direct control and in effect all man has to
do is sit still and let God do.
Comes, back to the old Faith without works is dead, even if you can't, by good
works score points with God for your good works.
We are nonetheless encouraged to fill our lives with good works.
What good is being God's Children if He can't watch us make our own mistakes
and watch us learn and grow?
Is that what we want for our own children?
And, we were created in His image, spirit, soul and body as well as mind, will
and emotions.
I have been all but screaming, only because I can't effectively scream in text,
about our responsibility to both God and Man to be that Salt preservative and a
shining Light both of God's Grace, and exposing sin.
Have you not read of the unjust judge that finally gives in to the widow and
gives her justice, and God is a just God, but we were still given the example
to persevere in prayer.
What does James say, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man
avails much".
If one woman or one man can move the heavens think of what can be accomplished
when a whole church prays in unity!
Lastly, God watches over His Word to perform it. Is there a Prophetic Word for
every detail of our lives?
No of course not! If there were, prayer would have no meaning because the
courses of everyone would be set in stone by prophecy.
So, if everything isn't set in prophetic stone doesn't that mean God has given
us permission to reason together with Him as Abraham did for Lot?
I doubt I am expressing myself clearly. Remember that Paul never recorded that
he was rebuked for asking God about something 3 times, but after 3 times he
understood that the answer was no.
Most of us haven't even prayed fervently about anything once! And, we can't
make ourselves pray fervently because we don’t think it will make a difference
because we foolishly believe in absolute predestination and meticulous control.
Believe it or not God wants to hear His children's opinions and petitions, even
if the answer is already no.