I confessed to my sister recently that I felt things were out of control. She reminded me that indeed things are out of control, to which she added; they are out of your control. They are only in God’s control. God has control issues.
I took a step back and reflected on that truth. As one of my favorite preachers asked; has it ever occurred to you that nothing ever occurs to God? Nothing takes Him by surprise, or catches Him unprepared. Jehovah does not need a contingency plan, a parachute clause, or an escape hatch. Yahweh needs no one to defend His name, reputation or credentials. He requires no letters of reference or recommendation. He explains Himself; Exodus 3:14 I AM THAT I AM. That is His calling card.
It is in when nothing seems right that I am reminded that God alone is in control. The plane is on auto-pilot, the driver is not asleep at the wheel. The world is careening, orbiting, rotating and revolving through space at millions of miles per second without an air bag.
God is self-absorbed because He is self-contained and self-sustained. It is His creation and His creatures that need Him and not the other way around. My next breath is best used to praise Him who grants it. That praise can be in the form of admiring Him for who He is, and thanking Him for what He has allowed me to be and finding ways to serve every person He has put in my life.
There are people with none of the advantages I have, who in my opinion have little or nothing to thank God for, because they have so little. And so I try to wrestle control and set things right on my own terms. When I ask God about His ‘unfairness’, He answers; He reminds me, I am clay.
Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?
God reminds me that the every disaster, every event, every occurrence is because He allows it. That does not mean He approves the terrors that cause us fright, but He does indeed allow it. Job was wise enough to not get angry with God about the disasters that came his way. Job 1:22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
When it seems God is out of control remember what He says about the disasters, the devastation and disease that we face now or fear later.
Isaiah 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
I AM is in control. Get His card.