Lesson 22: God’s Sovereignty Keeps Us from Wasting Our Lives

1 Corinthians 10:31 - "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

We are to glorify God with our lives every single day in everything we do. This not only shows our love for Him, but it also ensures that our lives are not wasted. How? When we glorify God, we store up treasure in heaven. Since heaven lasts forever, so does our act of glorifying God. Therefore, our temporary lives here on earth become eternally significant. But in case you have not noticed, there is somebody out there who does not want us to invest our lives for God but wants us to waste our lives. This being is none other than satan. And one of the many ways he tricks us into wasting our lives is through our wicked world system. People of God, we desperately need to wake up to the fact that this wicked world system is one of our biggest enemies. Our society seduces us to live only for ourselves and the things of this world. Does not our society entice us to indulge our every whim in all the glamour and glitz it has to offer? The Bible gives a stiff warning to those who would live like this:

1 John 2:15 - “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

God gives us such a harsh warning because He knows that if we live only for this world, then our lives will be utterly wasted because this world is not going to last forever. In fact, it is going up in smoke!

2 Peter 3:10 - "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed."


How useless it is for someone to invest their whole life into something that will one day be burned to ashes. Do you see the cunning of the enemy? So out of mercy God orchestrates a few difficulties and suddenly the world starts to lose all its glamour and glitz. It is not so wonderful after all, so we begin turning towards that which is important in life. We start living for heavenly things instead of earthly things. God is protecting us from the enemy! He protects us from wasting our lives by running after the things of this world.

But you might ask, “Does knowing something as basic as God is sovereign really make a difference in lives of people worldwide?" The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:24-29 some of the things he endured, and yet in Philippians 4:13 he declares I can do “all things through Him who strengthens me.”

It is precisely because God loves us that He allows trouble to come into our lives. Our problems might be difficult, but God is loving! He accepts us for who we are and where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there. God is more concerned about our character than our overall comfort. Yes, knowing something as basic as God is Sovereign really does make a difference in people's lives.

* Where are you placing your priority for this temporary life on earth?