As a Calvinist in a fairly non-Calvinistic denomination, I've often been suprised to find how difficult it is even for Christians to accept the sovereignty of God in all things. There seems to be an idea among many--perhaps most--Christians that God is concerned with the "big things," but not really the "small things." When I talk about the fact, for instance, that God actually cares who wins the Super Bowl and has ordained an outcome that will help accomplish His great plan, I often find people reacting against that idea from deep within. Of course, I purposely use the example of the Super Bowl because I know it will be jarring; to the modern Christian, nothing could be more "unspiritual" than an overpublicized athletic competition. But we seem to have an idea that God just doesn't involve Himself in certain mundane things. A common illustration I hear is that "God draws the outline, but He lets us color in the picture."

It's becoming more and more clear to me, however, that the big things are just accumulations of many small things. An outline of the Mona Lisa would be valueless. It's the "coloring in" that makes the Mona Lisa the Mona Lisa. The little details--her smile, her hair, her complexion--are what makes her a work of art. Why would we want a God who merely draws an outline and then lets us butcher it with our crayons?

My entire life is details, and if God's not interested in those, then He's not interested in my life. The Super Bowl is the most important day in the lives of the 100 or so people playing in it. Does God care about what happens to them? Does He have any sort of plan for their lives that involves their careers? I only have any comfort in daily life if God has a plan and is ultimately behind everything that comes to pass in my life and the world around me. If there are some things that just don't matter, then I might be suffering pointlessly at any given moment. Thank God that "...God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28).

The framers of the great Westminster Confession of Faith were very wise (and very biblical) when they wrote: "God from all eternity, did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His own will, freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass; yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin, nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures; nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established."