"The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.” Proverbs 21:1, KJV

Day to day as we navigate life with the pandemic, I think our minds turn to thoughts of our Creator more than usual. The sovereignty of our God is a powerful thing. One way to define sovereignty would be supreme and independent power. The Internet provides many definitions, including: “the quality or state of being sovereign, or of having supreme power or authority; the status, dominion, power, or authority of a sovereign; royal rank or position; royalty. Supreme and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a state or community.” 1

If you are like me, while staying closer home you have watched a little more TV than usual. There is lots of advice out there regarding which shows might be recommended to watch next. (A caution: all is permissible, but not always advisable.) Netflix’s The Crown has been popular for many and has been given the title of the most expensive TV series ever produced. An anticipated fourth season was recently released, with more stories regarding Queen Elizabeth and her family. There is lots of speculation regarding how much is fact and how much is fiction in the series, but, at any rate, it brings into view the concept of the queen’s sovereignty over the royal family, the British Commonwealth, and the Church of England.

While the monarchy in Buckingham Palace is finite, we can stop and consider an infinite kingdom that reigns above every democracy, every government, and every circumstance on earth.

In one of the last scenes of the fourth season of The Crown, Prince Philip says to Lady Diana that they are both outsiders. “After all these years, I still am,” he says. “We all are. Everyone in this system is a lost, lonely, irrelevant outsider, apart from the one person, the only person that matters. She’s the oxygen we all breathe. The essence of all our duty.” 2 While the critics have mixed reviews on the quality of this series, I thought these words of reflection on the English sovereign (the queen) were interesting when considering the sovereignty of God.

Should we teach our kids that they are lost? lonely? irrelevant outsiders? I think that is a pretty good description of humanity outside of a relationship with the Almighty God. In difficult times, the sovereignty of God is a comfort and the difficulties make our station crystal clear. We have no control over what happens in the world: control is an illusion. Yes, we have free will (God-given) and we make decisions. However, no matter what name we select on an election ballot or what commonwealth we are a part of, the human race is all under the control of a sovereign God, which means he knows all things and he is in control of all things.

This is a time ripe with opportunity to teach our youth on a daily basis what it means to trust in God through times of disappointment and trials. I think it is of equal importance that we teach our kids that they were created for a purpose and their full potential (now and in eternity) can only be realized from a life dedicated to Christ.

Queen Elizabeth II said in her 2019 Christmas address that the heart of the Christmas story was found in the birth of a baby, and although that baby seemed insignificant to many in Bethlehem, through his life we would learn how to live. As Christians, Jesus Christ is the oxygen we breath and the source of our duty is to his kingdom. There is no better time or season to demonstrate this trust in our Sovereign King and teach them that the heart of any king, queen, or government official is in the hands of the one who spoke it all into existence.

1. www.dictionary.com
2. www.decider.com