God's control

To the reader’s of this blog,

I don’t have it all together not even close.  I try to encourage others with this blog.  I have problems of my own and I often must remember that God is still in control just like you do because I have problems that are bigger than me.  I read a passage a few months back in a book my dad gave me called Seasons of Life by Charles R. Swindoll.  The book dates to 1983.  I was born in 1976.  If you’re inclined, you can do the math and get back to me on how old either I or the book are.  Sometimes I read something, and it sticks with me.  Other times I feel God leading me to share a thing that I’ve read with others and this is one of those things it seems since yesterday God has wanted me to share this.  I don’t know if I need it more than you. 

God’s Control

The bitter news of Dawson Trotman’s drowning swept like a cold wind across Schroon Lake to the shoreline.  Eyewitnesses tell of the profound anxiety, the tears, the helpless disbelief in the faces of those who now looked across the deep blue water.  Everyone’s face except one – Lila Trotman, Dawson’s widow.  As she suddenly walked upon the scene a close friend shouted, “Oh Lila… He’s gone.  Dawson’s gone!”  To that she replied in calm assurance the words of Psalm 115:3

But our God is in the heavens;

He does whatever he pleases.

All of the anguish, the sudden loneliness that normally consumes and cripples those who survive did not invade that woman’s heart.  Instead, she leaned hard upon her sovereign Lord. 

As you read these words…. Does that seem strange to you?  Does it seem unusual to refer to a tragic death as being God’s pleasure?  Honestly now, do you think God’s control over us is total or partial?  Let’s allow his word to speak on this deep subject: 

Thou hast enclosed me behind and before

And laid thy hand upon me. 

Thine eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in they book they were all written.

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them

Psalm 139:5, 16

Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—

An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!

Will the clay say to the potter, “What are you doing?” 

Isaiah 45:9

……I am God, and there is no other;

I am God, and there is no one like me…

Saying, “My purpose will be established,

And I will accomplish all my good pleasure.”

Isaiah 46:9-10

… He does according to His will in the host of heaven

And among the inhabitants of earth;

And no one can ward off his hand

Or say to him, “What hast thou done?” 

Daniel 4:35

There are more.  Patiently, repeatedly, in a dozen different ways the Word makes the point.  Accept it or not, God’s calling the shots.  He’s running the show.  Either He’s in full control or He’s off his throne.  It’s as foolish to say He’s, “almost sovereign” as it would be to say I’m “almost married” or Kennedy was “almost president” or the surgeon’s gloves are “almost sterile.” 

If you’re trying to grasp all the ramifications of this great truth… don’t.  You can’t anyway.  Feverishly toiling to unravel all the knots can turn you into a fanatical freak… it will push you to the edge of your mental capacity… it will result in endless hours of theological hairsplitting.  The finite can never plumb the depths of the infinite… so don’t waste your time trying.

It was a glorious day when I was liberated from the concentration camp of fear… the fear of saying… “I don’t understand the reasons why, but I accept God’s hand in what has happened.”  It was a greater day when I realized that nobody expected me to have all the answers… least of all God!  If I could figure it all out, I’d qualify as his adviser, and scripture makes it clear He doesn’t need my puny counsel.  He wants my unreserved love, my unqualified devotion, my undaunted trust—not my unenlightened analysis of His ways. 

One of the marks of spiritual maturity is the quiet confidence that God is in control… without the need to understand why He does what he does.  Lila Trotman bore such a mark as she faced the ways of God that were unsearchable… and unfathomable.

What marks your life?