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Out of Our Control

7/2/2015

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Picture
On earth, as we move about our daily lives- waking, working, playing, going to school- this globe we reside on rotates at about 1,000 miles per hour. In our yearly orbit around the sun, we travel at about 67,000 miles per hour. In addition, our solar system--Earth and all--whirls around the center of our galaxy (The Milky Way) at some 490,000 miles per hour. As we are hurled in space at incredible rates of speed, we sit here unfazed by the motion. The force of gravity keeps us in place and protect us from being pulled apart by the tremendous velocity. We think very little about this. We are born being used to everything as it is.

We live in sleepy neighborhoods and at any moment an horrific crime could happen. We drive down the road and the drivers approaching from the other direction could very easily cross the center line and crash into us head on. We use tools and machinery with our jobs that could malfunction and cause us harm. We could be in the wrong place at the right time and tragedy befall us. The forces of nature do not stop and, depending on where we live, we could face major flooding, violent winds, or wildfires burning out of control. At any moment, life could change drastically, but we do not always think about that fact.

For people who do, they can put their lives in jeopardy with the worry and stress of it all. But for those of us who have a passing thought about these things, we quickly go back to our carefree lives. We don't like to think about not being in control, but these things make it clear that we are not. And yet we don't seem to have any fear and we do not worry about who is in control of these things. They just are and we take them for granted.


The Word of God tells us that God spoke everything into existence (Psalm 33). He stretches out the heavens like a curtain. He hung the earth on nothing (Job 26:7), and sits above the circle of the earth (Isaiah 40:22). He has set the course of our trip around the sun (Psalm 19:6). He has made the seasons (Psalm 74:17). He has carved out the ocean depths. He literally holds the whole world in His Hands. "Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?" (Isaiah 40:12 NLT) So we see from the previous passages that God is in control of space and all that floats out there. But what about Life here on earth?

The miracle of life begins in simple, microscopic cells. We are held together as we are formed in the womb and there are a number of processes that, if they do not happen at exactly the right moment, we will either not be born with the breath of life in us, or we may be born with a defect. The Bible says that "He formed our hearts and understands everything that we do" (Psalm 33:15). "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb" (Psalm 139:13-15 NLT). He provides families for most of us and commands us to take care of those who don't.

Life is not a set of random processes and changes that happen to us, but a design for our lives mapped out by our Creator God. When we rest in the fact that he is in Control, we can let go of the steering wheel and relax. Yet we still try to find things that we can be in control of. Things that He wants us to hand over to Him and let Him handle. Our fears and worries. Our anxieties over children and their safety and the decisions that they make when we are not around. We are overprotective, we rehearse things in our minds that have not even happened yet, as if we know that something will definitely turn out wrong. We are fearful, anxious, and full of doubts; as if God cannot work to the contrary of what we have already believed in our minds.

When we have doubts, worry or fears about some future event we think will happen, we should quickly turn our thoughts to the Lord and take them to Him in prayer. To increase our faith and trust in Him, do not forget the previous times that He has brought you through. They are markers and memorials to His Goodness and Faithfulness to you. It is also important to reject negative thoughts from within ourselves and comments from others that may cause us to begin heading down the road of upsetting scenarios. We should also remember that God is the One in Control and not us, and that’s a good thing. When we are weak, He is strong. When we are afraid, we can and should recognize that He is in Control, Outside of Time, and already knows the outcome of the things we are fearful about. Trusting Him is important. If we cannot trust Him, He cannot help our faith to grow in these moments. The longer we take to learn to trust Him, the more of these moments we may face, fearful that there is no one who can help when He is ready, willing and able to handle what we are worried about. We must learn to be confident that He is worthy to be trusted and the fact that He is in Control whether we are willing to let Him be or not.

We make decisions all the time and we know for certain that we have control of them. When to shave, which Blizzard to buy at Dairy Queen. A trip to the store for groceries and which deals to get. But there are many larger issues that we do not recognize as His territory and we are in the wrong for even thinking that control belongs to us. Our pride and arrogance ultimately costs us the blessing of handing control to Him. We miss out on the Freedom of Letting Go and Letting God handle the things that weigh heavy on our hearts. Let us remember to cast our cares and worries on Him. If He can handle all of the scientific and physiological processes that go on without our notice, He can handle all of the details of concern in our lives. Empty your hands of those things that truly belong to Him. Everything belongs to Him anyway (Psalm 89:11)!


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