Is God Really in Control?

     When a vehicle is built it is designed to be under the control of a driver.  If the vehicle is operating properly it will do exactly as the driver commands.  If it is not operating properly it will not submit itself to the driver and will be operating outside of the control of the driver.  The driver is said to have lost control of the vehicle. 

People were designed to have a relationship with God, the Father.  We are here to be His companions and to do His work.  We are to be under His control.  Due to sin there is a malfunction in our design.  In order to be His companions and be under His command and control this malfunction of sin must be corrected. 

When our car is malfunctioning we take it to a mechanic who knows and understands how a vehicle should operate.  He will also have the tools to set things aright. 

     When we are malfunctioning and need to be set aright we have a place we must go as well.  It is the Cross of Christ, where He allowed His blood to be shed for us so that we could be forgiven for our sin; It is here where we die to our self just as He died.  It is outside the tomb where He came after He was raised from death to life, where we are raised from the death of our old selves to life as a new creature in Christ, set free from the power of sin.  This is the Gospel.  It is the Good News.  It is the only way our sin can be forgiven and we can be released from its hold upon us.

     If we have reached this point we are here due to the faith God gave us to believe in Him.   It is by His grace  in us to accept this free gift of Salvation.  We can receive this gift because we are willing to be in submission to His will.  We have realized and are agreeing with Him that we have been in control long enough and that we have only grieved Him in the lordship we have had over ourselves.   

     THIS is the point at which God is in control OF US -because we are in submission to Him.  If we should refuse to submit to His will at any point, He would cease being in control of us.  Due to our malfunction of sin, by choosing our own will over His, we will have taken control of our lives back from Him.  He would no longer in control because we would not be submitted to Him.

If one never reaches this point of submission to God’s will and acceptance of His Salvation they are living a life which in NOT under the control of God, but their self.  In these cases, God is not in control.

 It is the choices that people make that cause the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world.   If we choose to follow God’s leading we will be a vehicle of good, but not just good, God’s goodness-which is SO much better than what the world’s “good” has to offer.    If we choose to follow our own heart we will be a vehicle of bad and ugly.

     So, is God really in control?  It depends on if we are submitted to His control or not.  This is a choice for all people to make.  When people continue to spout, “God is in control” as a mantra of comfort, it is not only a surface comfort, it is a false comfort indeed since God is NOT always in control and this is truly of no use to anyone.  It dulls people to their personal responsibility of making right choices.  It makes God appear at the very least, uncaring of the consequences of evil in the world and at worst, responsible for it.  Who would trust in a God who is in control of every choice people make and thus the puppet master of so much evil in the world and the cause of the pain in their life and/or the lives of those they love?  (I can't name anyone either.) 

     We must stop touting this false god as the real and true God.  We must take a stand and tell the truth.  The love of Christ compels us to do so.  If we are not compelled to tell the truth and are comfortable with continuing a lie, God is in fact NOT in control of our life and we are part of the reason that evil continues. 

We have personal responsibility to tell the truth even when it’s uncomfortable.  Even if hardly anyone else will.  Even if we receive a poor response.  No matter what.  God's Word is truth and the Devil is a liar and the father of it.

     God’s choice was to give us the choice to choose Him, the devil, or our self as ruler of our life.  To live for Him or not.  To do His will or not.  To seek peace and pursue it or not.  To live a life that pleases Him or not.  Now we must choose.  He has given each the choice to choose so in effect, WE are in control of whether we allow His will to be done in our life.   We must also recognize that others are making that same decision, repeatedly.  So God is not always in control.

     He is the author of everything that is truly good and of nothing that is not truly good. 

     So when someone is having a rough day and you would like to comfort them, tell them the truth, tell them the Good News.  Speak the truth in love but for God’s sake and theirs, let us stop lying to them!