Calvin on the Sovereignty of God

I've been reading John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion this week in preparation for my Luther and Calvin exam (although honestly, the exam is really just an excuse for me to set aside time to go deep with God in some really weighty theology-- getting a good grade on the final is just sort of a bonus).  It has been an amazing, exhilarating read.  Theology should always lead to doxology, and Calvin's theology has definitely been doing that.  I sat around for about 5 hours today reading most of Book I, and chapters 16-18 especially had me practically shouting for joy at the indescribable grandeur of God.  Chapters 16-18 are about God's sovereignty and providence and His control over all events and times and creatures and people.  Below is an excerpt from Chapter 16 which rocked my socks off.  Expect more quotes tomorrow.

"God is deemed omnipotent, not because He can act though He may cease or be idle, or because by a general instinct He continues the order of nature previously appointed; but because, governing heaven and earth by His providence, He so overrules all things that nothing happens without His counsel... This is the solace of the faithful in their adversity, that everything which they endure is by the ordination and command of God, that they are under His hand... They can rest secure in the protection of Him to whose control everything that could do them harm is subject, by whose authority Satan with all his furies and engines is curbed as with a bridle, and on whose will everything adverse to our safety depends."

What is the result of this doctrine for our lives?  How does this change things?

"Once the light of divine providence has illumined the believer's soul, he is released and set free, not only from the extreme fear and anxiety which formerly oppressed him, but from all care.  This, I say, is his comfort, that his heavenly Father so embraces all things under His power, so governs them at will by His nod, so regulates them by His wisdom, that nothing takes place save according to His appointment; that received into His favor and entrusted to the care of His angels, neither fire nor water nor sword can do him harm, except insofar as God their master is pleased to permit."

What sweet, sweet Gospel truth this is!  I pray that you and I will more fully grasp this precious Biblical doctrine, and more fully live lives of God-glorifying assurance and peace in the light of the comfort it brings.