But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases." Psalm 115:3

The mind God provided to the creation helps human beings understand phenomena in life. Then, from a human perspective, it is easier for some to attribute success to factors such as intelligence, hard work, beauty to the point that we sometimes forget that there is a Sovereign in this world who has the last word. Other people understand the power of prayer but are discouraged easily when difficulties come. Even though the latter group believes in prayer, both groups do pay little attention to verses such as "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases"

There are many examples of the demonstration of the God’s sovereignty in the Bible but the most interesting for me is the case of Jacob and Esau. In the book of Genesis 25 and 27, we saw a hardworking man and elder of the family who would probably have been chosen to take the baton of his father in any culture. Esau fits well traditionally as he is the elder but also in the modern world in which we live where hardworking and being skilful are great indicators of leadership. However, God decided to choose Jacob to fulfil his alliance with Abraham. Several comments are available concerning this choice but so complex and somehow confusing is the situation that I’d rather keep the only comment the Bible made on the subject. Jacob did nothing to get that favour and God probably made his choice since Rebecca’s womb (Romans 9: 10-13 or Malachi 1:3).

In our daily life, it sometimes happens that someone that is not hardworking or very intelligent gets a position for which everyone can objectively recognize that another person deserves the position much better. Such situations are not always caused by corruption or fraud; sometimes they are simple clues of God’s sovereignty in action. As believers, when we pray, God hears our prayers. But when he does not, we believe it is due to sins. It is my opinion that sin is not always the cause because I do not believe that Jacob sinned less than Esau. Sometimes God uses His sovereignty to do anything he wants.

The purpose of this message is not to discourage hard work, prayer, intelligence, or fasting but just to recognize God is sovereign. He knows what he is doing because his ways are inscrutable (Romans 11 v 33).

May God give us the same favour he gave to Jacob.