This Friday a team of men from my church in California will leave for Jamaica to partner in ministry with some of the best people I know, mentors from the Swallowfield Boys’ Club in Kingston.  I first wrote about this summer camp for un-churched boys who live in an area characterized by poverty and violence in November last year (see The Power of One, 11/8/2015).

As events have unfolded nothing has happened the way I saw it in my head when I sat down to interview the senior pastor of Swallowfield Chapel, and the Director of the Boys’ Club back in October.  Money for sponsorships has been provided with very little input from me, except to share their story with a few people, and I have had absolutely nothing to do with the team headed down, except to feed them Jamaican food… one time! 

My excitement is a living breathing thing as preparations for this unusual camp ramp up, and one phrase from Scripture is stuck on repeat in my head,

“…this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”  Mark 12:11

First of all, the burden I’ve felt for these boys and their mentors is completely unexpected.  I’m usually a Women’s Ministry kind of girl and have no problem “stayin’ in mah lane”!  What do I know about ministering to these boys or encouraging the men who have worked this hard ground for so many years without seeing any abundance of fruit from their labor?  BUT GOD…

“…He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.”  1 Timothy 6:15b – 16

The reality of God’s absolute sovereignty, (supreme power and authority) chaps our hide if we do not know or trust Him enough, or are stubbornly determined to be rebellious in our hearts. We might hate the truth that free will and the ability to make our own choices operate strictly within the impassable boundaries that God Himself has set, but… it is what it is.

For those of us who see Him for who He truly is, who know that the very essence of His being is perfect love, and choose to trust Him enough to relinquish our will to His, the absolute sovereignty of God is the only true security to be found in this uncertain world.  In perilous times, difficult circumstances, and daunting challenges, my soul remains anchored in the truth that my Sovereign God never says,

“Oooops!  Never saw that coming! Kinda messes up Mah plan!”

The Bible recounts the devastating experiences of a man named Job, but it also tells the priceless treasure he discovered in the end;

“I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” Job 42:2

That!  …that right there my friends is all my security, for camp and beyond …just living the thing.