Facing the UnknownSample

GOD IS IN CONTROL; WE ARE NOT (AND THAT'S A GOOD THING)

When I was 19, I had to have my appendix removed. (It’s okay…I’m fine now…I know you were worried.) Honestly, it’s a pretty minor surgery, but it was the first time I had ever faced the prospect of being operated on. If you’ve never had the pleasure, imagine lying in a hospital bed while different people have been trying to figure out what’s wrong with you, and then a lady walks in who says she’s Dr. So-and-so and she’s going to put you to sleep and cut you open…it’s just a bit troubling! And the hardest part of the whole thing for me was not the physical recovery or the fear of what might happen…it was the fact that I had to place my life 100% in the control of this other person. There was nothing I could do…I was going to sleep, and she was going to be in the driver’s seat. 

Now, the reason this idea of trusting someone with your life can be so difficult is that we like to be in control…or at least to feel like we’re in control. It’s hard-wired into our independent, American spirit. But, when it comes to the big things in life – when we find ourselves staring into the unknown – we realize that we aren’t actually in control. And that could easily cause us to freak out...unless we realize that the One who is in control is very, very good at it. You see, if you stop for just a couple minutes to think about it, we aren’t actually in control of much. God is the Creator of the universe, the author of life, and is the reason we wake up and have oxygen every morning…He is fully in control!

While that last sentence will make the control-freak in you want to spaz-out a little bit, it should actually fill us with resounding peace. Yes, God is in control…can’t get around that. But, God is also so good, holy, and loving that we actually want him to be in control. God’s character never changes, he doesn’t have a bad day, and he will never, ever stop loving you more than you can imagine. Who better to be in control of everything than an all-powerful God of infinite love? So, whatever unknown and freaky thing you’re facing right now, take a moment and simply pray to God: “Thank you, Lord, that you are in control and that you are good. I know you’ve got this.”