God is in control. I hear people say that all the time. I know that it is meant to make us feel better, but the way it is used sometimes makes me cringe a little. People say it so flippantly I wonder if they really stop to think about it and if they really mean it when they say it, and what it implies to people who want to believe in God, but aren't sure if they do. I want to challenge us to dig a little deeper into this thought of God being in control by asking a few questions.
Is God in control of your life? REALLY in control? Is He in control of everything you do? Do you have free will, or does he make you do the things He wants you to do? Is God in control of everything you watch on t.v.? Would you be watching everything you watch if you thought of the fact that God sees you and is in control? Would He have turned it to that show? Is He in control of everything you put in your mouth? (ouch, just stepped on my own toes). Is He in control of everything that comes OUT of your mouth? (oops, that was the toes on my other foot).
So, I think we need to look more closely at what it means for God to be in control.
Proverbs 19:3 says, “People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the Lord.”
Is it God being in control that ruins people’s lives? No, it is often their own foolishness. I have heard a story many times throughout the years of a man being trapped on the top of a house in a flood. He cries out to God asking for God to save him. As he is sitting there crying out to God a man comes up in a boat and offers to rescue him. The man refuses and says, “No, God will rescue me.” The man continues to sit and cry out to God and then a helicopter comes by and sends a line down to him. Again, the man refuses and insists God will save him. The man dies and when he gets to heaven he asks God why He didn’t save him. God tells him that he sent the boat and the helicopter and he refused the help. I know that is fictitious, but I think at times we can be like that. We live our lives how we want until we are in trouble and then get upset with God when things happen because we believe He is in control and nothing would happen that God doesn’t want to happen to us. Have you ever had someone in your life that says, “Why do bad things always happen to me?” and you want to respond, “Because you make bad decisions.” Just me?
God does want to be in control of your life. He does want good for you, but we have to remember that unfortunately, the world we live in is under the control of the evil one.
1 John 5:19 says, “We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one.”
Sometimes things happen because we live in this fallen world and the evil one schemes to try and distract us and keep our eyes off of the good things God has for us. We see this in the story of Joseph. God had big plans for Joseph, and from a young age, God revealed this to Joseph in dreams. Joseph’s brothers got jealous and ended up hatching a plot to sell him into slavery. Throughout the next decade-plus of his life, he was blessed by God, then treated badly by people. He was falsely accused, thrown in prison, and forgotten. But all of these things did not stop God’s plan for him. Finally, Joseph is remembered. He helps to save the people of Egypt and eventually his own family who betrayed him. In Genesis 50:20 we see that Joseph told his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” You might use this to say that God was in control because God worked it for good. Maybe, but it was people that sold Joseph into slavery and people who falsely accused him. And through it all, Joseph did the right thing. Joseph stayed in a relationship with God.
The good news to me in this is that it doesn’t matter what people do to us, God can work through it. Whatever people do to cause us harm, God can work it to good for us and those around us. When the world is evil, God is still good. Was it God’s will or best for Joseph to go through this? I don’t know. His situations prepared him for what he was going to do in the future, but God never forces us to do anything.
There are a few more verses I want us to look at real quick as we finish this thought up.
Romans 8:28 tells us that, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
So, we see that even though God doesn’t make us do things and not everything that happens lines up with His will, He is still God and He is still good. He promises that when the evil things from this world come against us, He will work it to good if we let Him. He promises that we do not have to be afraid or discouraged because wherever we go, the Lord is personally going ahead of us. He is always with us. He will never fail us. He will never abandon us. We need to use wisdom. We need to draw near to Him and listen to the Spirit’s leading. We cannot get complacent and live any which way and expect God to be in control and keep us from hurting ourselves and others. We can’t be the man on the roof saying “God save me” when we do not use the wisdom He gave us or the resources He provided.
God will be in control of your life if you will let Him. He wants to guide you, direct you, and have His purpose prevail in your life (Proverbs 19:21)- but you have to do your part and let Him be in control.
Is God in control? The question might really be- are you letting Him be?
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