Christians like to say, “Don’t worry. God is in control.”
Do you say it? What do you mean by it?
How is God in control? There are various levels of control a person may have.
A man driving a car is in control of the car–but can he make sure the tires never go flat? Can he make sure nothing fails in the engine, that his brakes never go out, or that the dashboard lights don’t flash? How in control is he?
A dictator is in control of his country, but so many factors lie outside his immediate power. He can’t control the man in the next room, who may be plotting his assassination. He cannot control which way the GDP goes from one year to the next. He cannot control every border security issue. How in control is he, really?
How in control are you of your life? Do you control your compensation at your job? Do you control your kids or spouse or parents? Didn’t Jesus say you cannot make one hair of your head white or black (and don’t argue about hair dye–you know what He means)?
So how is God in control? What does He control?
Check out Psalm 139 for a wonderful description of God.
The first six verses speak to God’s omniscience (that He knows all things). “You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.”
The next six verses (7-12) speak to God’s omnipresence (that He is everywhere). “Where can I go from your Spirit?”
The next six verses (13-18) speak of how God formed the author in the womb and how God had written down all the days of the author’s life before he was born. “I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
The last six verses (19-24) is the author’s plea to God, based on what he knows about God, that God would slay the wicked and bloodthirsty men in his life. He ends with the request that God search his heart to know his anxieties and to see if there is any wicked way in him. “And lead me in the way everlasting.”
In a very personal sense, God is in control in your life. He formed you. He knew you before you were born. He knows everything about you now, and He knows how your life will end (Isaiah 46.10). If He wills to, He can change anything in your life that He wants to. He brings governments to swift ends (Daniel 6). He brings leaders down and raises up new ones (Daniel 2.21). Whatever He intends to do, He does, and accomplishes His purposes (Isaiah 46.9-11). He laughs at nations, kings, and rulers who rise up against Him (Psalm 2).
On top of all that — HE LOVES YOU! “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3.16).
Do you trust Him with your life? Do you believe He has complete control in your life and that He loves you? This is the hope and confidence of a Christian. We are in God’s hands now; no one and nothing can snatch us out. In His deep love for us (He loved us before we were born) He has prepared a place for us and promised us eternal life together with Him and Jesus.
I don’t know about you, but that helps me as I examine the present trouble and turmoil. I can weigh it in the eternal light of God’s word and God’s purposes, and suddenly all the striving of men loses its power, because God is in control–not them.