“God is on the Throne”
“God is on the throne” is a saying you might have heard fairly frequently if you have been part of an evangelical church. It is used to mean that despite evidence otherwise, or uncertainty of outcome, God is in control.
My faith resonates with the statement. I do believe that God is over all, that we can trust in God. However, like many evangelical words or sayings, problems arise when the saying is used dismissively or in a manner that is trite.
This past week a performance on the tv show, “America’s Got Talent” went viral (more than 72 million views as of this writing). The singer who uses the stage name “Nightbirde” was singing a song that she wrote called “It’s Okay”. This and, “everything will be okay” are the less religious ways of saying “God is on the throne”.
What does it mean that God is on the throne? As a pastor I would hear the saying used at times when a decision for the church was unclear. In that context it was an assurance that God would guide or lead no matter how we decided. I heard the saying when we could not control the outcome of a situation, even a difficult one. If someone was sick and we were praying for them, we might hear the saying then.
I get the positive of the saying. It is a saying that only makes sense in the context of some kind of faith. The saying conveys truth only when it is voiced simultaneously as a statement and a question.
When Jen and I visited Auschwitz a few years ago I remember asking as a kind of rebuttal to the saying, “Was God on the throne when people were being murdered in these places where we are now standing?” If you are going to say “God is on the throne”, then you have to face such questions.
This past year and a half has revealed much of the difficult reality of the human condition. We are often not as strong as we think we are. We hurt one another. We are susceptible to loss and death. Is God on the throne?
This is why Nightbirde’s performance resonates with so many people. She has cancer, and has been given a small chance of survival. The past year for her has been one of overwhelming pain, and then she stands in front of a panel of judges and sings a song she wrote called “It’s Okay”.
We resonate with it because she represents for us the statement and the question. Is it okay? What does it mean that it is okay?
Another young woman who wrote a variation of “It’s Okay” or “God is on the throne” is Julian of Norwich who lived in England in the 1300’s. As a young woman she faced an illness from which it appeared she would certainly die. In the throes of this illness she had spiritual visions of the passion (trial and crucifixion) of Jesus. She calls the visions “showings” and she wrote about what each showing revealed to her. The book that contains these descriptions and insights is called “Revelations of Divine Love” and the revelation that is above all the others is this, “All is well, all is well, all manner of thing shall be made well”.
Nightbirde sings boldly in a quiet voice, “it’s okay, it's okay, it’s okay it’s okay”. It’s like a challenge for us, and a wish and a prayer, and a statement and a question.
I write this in June of 2021. It is the first June in my life that will not include speaking to my dad on Father’s Day and observing his birthday at the end of the month. My dad died last August very suddenly. He took his own life. He had, in his life, been full of humour and a love for people. He was not someone who struggled majorly with mental illness, at least not in a manner that we sometimes assume of such struggle. He had a vibrant, if questioning, faith. He had a good life with a loving family and grandkids. He was a leader in his work, and then after he retired, in the community, and in a gospel quartet. In the shadow of such loss, what does it mean for me to say, “It’s okay”?
Is God on the throne?
Is everything going to be okay?
I answer with Nightbirde and Julian of Norwich, “Yes”.
For me, though, the “yes” is a statement and a question. It is a declaration and a prayer. Nightbirde has written an exceedingly beautiful and stark description of what her “okay” means.
A prayer;
Dear God,
Rarely in our lifetimes have we wanted more to hear that it will be okay or that You are on the throne. Show us how to hold such truth in the reality of the pain and loss and sorrow in our own lives and in all the world. Help us to pray this prayer for others facing uncertainty. May we seek to love others truly so that we are not trite or dismissive. And for those of us who hear such words in the context of Christian faith, show us how, as Julian saw, in Jesus’ love we see that “all manner of thing shall be made well”.
Amen
What a lovely tribute to Nightbirde. I hope she gets to read this.
If God is not on the throne then I have been misled. I am counting on Him.
Not everything is always “well” but we must cling to our faith and know that somehow God will make things “well”. If we can’t count on His Promise then all is lost for sure.
I envision that He wept over Auschwitz and London and Residential Schools and all other forms of man’s inhumanity to man.
This video was heart-breaking….we could all cry for this girl but she has chosen to be alive each day. If she is okay with 2% then we have to be, also.
My dad left this earth 43 years ago but he never left me.
Your dad left this earth but he remains with you. I believe that.