King Rick?

Our family took a 26 hour vacation this weekend. We left on Sunday afternoon to go camping. Now, getting a campsite for the Sunday afternoon of a long weekend is not an easy thing. After spending time (perhaps hours) looking at all the options at Manitoba Provincial Parks, I was discouraged to find out that I couldn't book for just one night on a long weekend. So, we prayed and we found a privately owned campground in an area we were interested in going to. Thankfully, Rick – the owner – said that although he usually only books for all three nights of the long weekend, someone asked if they could leave Sunday so we could have their spot.

Rick is an interesting guy. He wasn't at the office when we arrived at 4:30 pm on Sunday afternoon and I couldn't get a hold of him on his cell phone. Thankfully, after praying we would find him, a kind lady on a bicycle told us she knew where he was and to just wait at the gate as she went to get him. Now, something we learned once we got to the campground is that is it one of those places that people essentially live at all summer (or on the weekends during the summer.) They have trailers that are permanently parked there. These RV's have decks attached to them, additions built on to them, and even roofs put over them. We quickly realized this is a community. But what we also realized is that this community had it's own culture... and that Rick had his own style. We couldn't nail him down for when he would get wood to us or when he wanted us to pay him. “Just settle in. I'll be around.” was his response when I asked. This agitated me a bit... as I like structure... but it also meant I needed to trust God. 

When talking with our neighbour, he described Rick as “the King”. It is like this trailer community is his kingdom that he rules over. Things are done on his time. What he says goes. Everyone listens to him. Thankfully he seems to be a benevolent king and everyone is happy there.

As I walked away from that conversation, I thought, “Yes, Rick may be the king of his domain here.... but Jesus is still King over all.” When we prayed to God that we would find Rick, He answered. When I needed to go find Rick to pay our bill, it was God I was trusting in, not Rick.

So, why am I sharing this with you? Because no matter who is overseeing you – a boss, manager, teacher, principal, the government, or even our church leaders, it is Jesus who is Lord over you and His great power is at work in your life. I am reminded of Ephesians 1:15-23. I will pray it for you:

“For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God's people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”