The benevolent tyranny of Kim

This week's verse is Colossians 1:16:

for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him—all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him.

When I was four or five, we only got a couple channels on the old TV my family had. We were pretty rural, far outside of the range where you could get cable TV, even if we could have afforded it. And when you're that young, the shows you are allowed to watch are limited anyway. I had almost nothing in common, culturally, with my classmates who lived in town.

I loved to watch The Lone Ranger. I wanted to be a Native American like Tonto! So when my kindergarten class had to make paper dolls, of course mine was Tonto: fringed deerskin coat, feather headband, moccasins. It was my finest work!

I went around showing my classmates the glory of my creation, one after another, until I got to Kim. Kim, who had no idea who Tonto was, grabbed the doll out of my hands and was like "you forgot his toes!" Snip Snip Snip Snip Snip, she cut toes in his moccasins. My art was ruined. Tonto was shamed. Why, Kim?

Do we do that with God sometimes? Do we look at the work of his hands, his art, and decide it needs fixing? 

All things in heaven and on earth were created in him, through him, and for him. The universe is his work, and he is both patron and customer. He decides what is made, makes it, and pays the price. We are just paint on a canvas. How can we "fix" anything he has made?

Nothing is outside of the sphere of his control. Visible or invisible things, like we talked about last week, are all under his power. All governments, all powers, spiritual and physical, anything that could provide enough muscle or stand as some kind of law of its own in the universe is still his creation and subject to his intervention, if needed.

It's easy to look at God's plan for our lives, or some circumstance or situation, and decide that it could use some improvements. We don't always live our day to day lives as though there is a God of the universe who rules over it all. Is it possible that his "oversight" is intentional? Is it possible that your "act of righteousness" to set things right is actually sin that tarnishes his perfect work?

We should approach these things with humility. Instead of viewing the world around us with impatient judgment, like social media encourages us to do, we should take a step back and consider that God has insights and plans that are beyond our understanding, and that he has power over more things than we do. If something is not according to our preferences, could it instead be according to his?

Or at the same time, if there are circumstances you pray for that don't seem to change, is it possible that they are there for a reason? Think of the times in the Old Testament where Israel was subject to judgment. Think of Jesus being nailed to the cross. Think of persecution of the Christian church. Do those things serve as evidence of the weakness of God? Or do they show that our ability to anticipate God's plan is often weak?

Whose universe is it? Whose plan and design do you want to see in the world around you? Sometimes it's better just to trust the artist and admit we don't know everything ourselves.