IN
CONTROL
BREAD
4 He is the
Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does
no wrong, upright and just is he.
Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV)
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do all
things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You
asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke
of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 You said, ‘Listen
now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ 5 My
ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent
in dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-6 (NIV)
5 I
am the LORD, and there is no
other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have
not acknowledged me, 6 so that
from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is
none besides me. I am the LORD,
and there is no other. 7 I form the light and create darkness, I
bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD,
do all these things. Isaiah 45:5-7 (NIV)
21 Declare what is to be, present it-- let them take counsel
together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was
it not I, the LORD? And there is
no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. 22 “Turn to
me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no
other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my
mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me
every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. 24 They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are righteousness and
strength.’” All who have raged against
him will come to him and be put to shame. Isaiah 45:21-24 (NIV)
8 “Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you
rebels. 9 Remember the former
things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there
is none like me. 10 I make known
the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say:
My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” Isaiah 46:8-10 (NIV)
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples,
together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus
(that is, the Son of Timaeus), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of
Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many
rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of
David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer
up! On your feet! He's calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to
his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you
want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I
want to see.” 52 “Go,” said
Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately
he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. Mark 10:46-52 (NIV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing
out! 34 “Who has known the
mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who
has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To
him be the glory forever! Amen. Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Fewer doctrines of the Christian faith
are more comforting than the sovereignty of God. It humbles you in good
seasons, provides hope in hard seasons, and gives joy in all seasons. The
doctrine of God's sovereignty is a constant nourishment for the soul. The
sovereignty of God is a sweet pillow that you can lay your head on at night. It
is a beautiful truth not only that God is in control over all, but is also
working everything out- the good and the bad--for your good and for His glory.
This sweet doctrine is medicine for the soul that you can take in any season of
life.” David Qaoud
“Teach me to treat all that
comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that
Your will governs all. Nothing that comes to me is
devoid of divine purpose. In seeking to see the whole with God's eyes, we can
find the peace which human events so often destroy. I rest, dear Lord, in the
knowledge that You are the Blessed Controller of all things.” Elisabeth Elliot
“Jesus is the One who shows us the
paradoxical route to meaning in a chaotic and hostile world. It’s the paradox of the gospel: Strength is
found in weakness. Control is found in dependency. Power is found in surrender….
God uses the frustrations of this life and the hurt of relationships to compel
us to look beyond what we can control to the God who controls all things in
order to woo us to himself. As we move from control to surrender, we move from
chasing the wind under the sun to embracing God above it.” Dan
Allender
“The Spirit’s control will replace sin’s
control. His power is greater than the
power of all your sin.” Erwin Lutzer
“What you think you can’t
handle — might actually be God handing you a gift. And I think of
everything I have chaffed against and railed about and howled to the heavens
and who am I to know what is best or not — but when you bow and
surrender to the sovereignty of God then you are in the posture to receive all
as a gift.” Ann
Voskamp
“Oh,
for a spirit that bows always before the sovereignty of God.” Charles
H. Spurgeon
“The Lord’s presence is infinite, His brightness
insupportable, His majesty aweful, His dominion boundless, and His sovereignty
incontestable.” Matthew Henry
“When you give up your illusions of control or helplessness and accept
your need for God, all that God has opens to you.”
Marjorie Thompson
“Sure, these crops were planted by the hand of the Farmer but it’s
clear every single day we look out at them: they rest in the hand of the
Father. It’s only a mirage to think that any of us have control, that we turn
the world.” Ann Voskamp
“Consider
for a moment just how much control we have?
Rightly so, we make our plans yet we all must agree that we clearly have
no idea what the day will bring forth.
All too often our plans go awry for something as mundane as a
cancelation of a flight, a child throwing up or a traffic jam that delays
everything. If we cannot even control
twenty-four hours or even twenty-four minutes or even twenty-four seconds (for
that matter) what in the world makes us think we can control a lifetime? The wise look up. The wise rest in His Authority and receive
their marching orders from Him seeking to abide in the center of His good and
pleasing and perfect will. We make
plans, but they are not authoritative plans – He often overrides them – yet all
for our good and His glory never one surpassing the other. The important thing to learn is that He has a
plan for every life and we want to walk in it.
It may seem very difficult and not of our choosing (and more often than
not this is the case) but it is always for our best – always. And in the end, it brings forth much fruit
not to mention perfect peace and contentment.”
BHY
“Upon some points a believer
is absolutely sure. He knows, for instance, that God sits in the stern-sheets
of the vessel when it rocks most. He believes that an invisible hand is always
on the world’s tiller, and that wherever providence may drift, Jehovah steers
it. That re-assuring knowledge prepares him for everything. He looks over the
raging waters and sees the spirit of Jesus treading the billows, and he hears a
voice saying, “It is I, be not afraid.” He knows too that God is always wise,
and, knowing this, he is confident that there can be no accidents, no mistakes;
that nothing can occur which ought not to arise. He can say, “If I should lose
all I have, it is better that I should lose than have, if God so wills: the
worst calamity is the wisest and the kindest thing that could befall to me if
God ordains it.” “We know that all things work together for good to them that
love God.” The Christian does not merely hold this as a theory, but he knows it as
a matter of fact. Everything has worked for good as yet; the
poisonous drugs mixed in fit proportions have worked the cure; the sharp cuts
of the lancet have cleansed out the proud flesh and facilitated the healing.
Every event as yet has worked out the most divinely blessed results; and so,
believing that God rules all, that He governs wisely, that He brings good out
of evil, the believer’s heart is assured, and he is enabled calmly to meet each
trial as it comes. The believer can in the spirit of true resignation pray,
“Send me what thou wilt, my God, so long as it comes from Thee; never came
there an ill portion from Thy table to any of Thy children.” C. H. Spurgeon
“The great maker of the will
is alive to carry out His own intentions.”
Charles H. Spurgeon
“Let us never despair while we
have Christ as our leader!” George
Whitefield
HEART SAVOR
·
God is in control of all things. No plan of His can be thwarted.
·
God is good, faithful, upright and just.
·
With Him, there is no need for despair.
