The lion was proud of his mastery of the animal kingdom. One day he decided to make sure all the other animals knew he was king of the jungle. He was so confident that he bypassed the smaller animals and went straight to the bear. “Who is the king of the jungle?” the lion asked.
“Why, of course, you are,” the bear replied. The lion gave a mighty roar of approval.
Next he asked the tiger, “Who is the king of the jungle?”
The tiger quickly responded, “Everyone knows that YOU are, oh mighty lion.”
Next on the list was the elephant. “Who is the king of the jungle?” the lion asked.
The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air five or six times and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him onto the ground several times, dunked him under water in a nearby lake and finally dumped him out on the shore.
The lion — beaten, bruised and battered — struggled to his feet.
“Look,” he told the elephant, “just because you don’t know the answer is no reason to get upset.”
Right. Sometimes people think they reign, but they do not. Some people act bossy until they run into the real leader. Eventually, we will all see that God is the ultimate ruler.
Revelation 19:6 (NKJV) And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!”
The picture we have of God will define our faith. Oftentimes, as well-meaning Christians, we see Him as kind of a demanding, impatient, maybe even frustrated Dad, running around, trying to get people to help out in benevolent plans to bring peace and salvation to the earth. We try to be God’s “little helpers” who try to help get Him out of the embarrassing situation that His love has gotten Him into and His limited abilities seem unable to get Him out of. We try to pump up His work because we don’t want Him to be humiliated because no one wants to play in His game.
But He needs no defenders. He is the eternal Head –of-State of the Universe who does all things well. God is not under attack. It is not as though because our culture is disregarding God, He and His angels are running around trying to defend His position so that He will not lose His place in the minds of men. He does not need Christians to prop up His image. No, He is the all-sufficient God who is the Self-Sufficient God. No one can give to Him something He does not already have or take anything away from Him. He owns everything and rules over everything. Satan would love for us to picture Him as a needy deity. But the Bible says it differently. A God who must be defended is not a God who can be relied on.
Even Jesus Christ is pictured today as kind of an impotent guy who did not sin. Sort of an irrelevant spiritual man who is kind, but powerless. No, this man Christ Jesus will return some day and those who have rejected Him will “hide their faces from the wrath of the Lamb.”
Let’s not allow the attitude of our age to steal from us the great truths of our God. Daniel knew very well that how he thought of God would determine his destiny. Daniel 11:32 …but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.
I do not want to get to the end of my life not having completed the great exploits I could have done. Believing the lie that our God is powerless to pull off His own plans because He is too nice will also sabotage what great thing could happen in our families, and for those we love.
People came again and again to Jesus Christ, placing demands on Him for power. Mothers and fathers came to Him not because they thought He was nice, but because they needed a supernatural miracle to happen for their child. And Jesus, instead of being intimidated by their demands, would respond they could have what they would believe He could do… ‘Those who know their God…”
This is why our fight is really not with people, money, current events, or problems. Our real fight is maintaining our belief in the God who is all-powerful and all-sufficient while we are surrounded by issues and problems that scream to us that He is not. Don’t give in to it. There is a reward for believing rightly about God, and you can have it.