Relax, God is in control

Whew!

God is on control, whether we like it or not!  Hopefully we can find comfort in that, and that everything is going according to God’s plan. Often times in life we have stress, panic and fear, because we are loosing sight of this basic truth. It’s easy to fall into a state of despair when we loose sight of God’s all-powerful-ness and the truth that : if God is truly GOD, then realistically, He’s got life under control. It’s when we submit ourselves to trusting in Him, that we see the rewards of His soverienty. When we leave trust, and resort to fear and panic, it is a sign that WE are back in control. In our own hands, or in the hands of others, there is no certainty in life as to where our destiny lies, hence the fear and panic that we can experience.

With faith in God , even in the midst of life’s unknown factors, we can REST [ Heb 4] in God’s dirrection, as we actively give Him the permission to guide our actions, thoughts, and desicions and to arrange our life’s path, in alignment with His loving perfect plan for our lives.

There are many good examples in the Bible of God being in control. One might be the story of Peter coming out of the boat to meet Jesus on the water.Peter only began to sink when he looked down, and lost sight of Jesus. Read here Matthew 14:22-33

Take God with you every step of your day, and you’ll see the promises of God being fufilled in your life all along the way.

What are you stressing out about today? What are you fearful or panicking over ? What are you depressed or despairing about ? Give it to God first, surrender it to God. When we “give it up to God” we are giving up and deferring the laboring and emotional burdening over our issues and circumstances, that are causing us un-due grief. If we are “letting go” it is letting go of that kind of approach or tactic in dealing with our issues. These emotional symptoms are signs that we are miss-appropriating the burdens of life onto our own shoulders in the first place. Jesus is asking to take the weight of life’s issues onto Him self. He says”

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

If we are not experiencing what Jesus is referring to here, then we are not taking on His “yoke” or weight , but carrying our own, we need to switch out our backpacks of burdens for His easy-to-carry bag of blessing. – Hopefully you get that, so I can suspend with the cheesy alliterations, and word-pictures. 🙂

We can “give it over to God “, and expect God to move, because we have then given Him control.

When one says” i’ve given it over to God” but is still stressing out about an issue, it’s evident that part of it is still on that person’s phycological “shoulders” or still on their mind bothering them.  It’s easier said than done some times, that is for sure. But if we can allow Him to do it, what a blessing it will be.

Some people are driving themselves mad because of the stresses of life, driven mad because of past issues in their lives that are not resolved. People “go crazy” when they don’t have an “out” to relieve their heart and mind of all the turmoil that vexes them. Jesus is that relief, Jesus is your crutch, if not your gurney or stretcher, Jesus is the hostpital bed, He is the care-taker of your soul.

Some people have said ” well..Christianity is a crutch” – as if that is a negative indictment. As if they have the will power,strength and ability to “handle it all” – it’s all on them apparently. [ no wonder people are soo stressed out and on edge]  The fact it is that Christianity is more than a crutch, it’s is like a complete Hospital for the soul, a constant source of health, healing, love, care, sympathy, therapy, and treatment. All facilitated through a relationship, with God, in Jesus Christ, brought to you by the Holy Spirit living in us. Sound cheesy ? Well I’d say dealing with constant neurotic behavior is much less attractive. Though our society tries to glamorize it’s vices, and make neurotic and “crazy” behavior seem cool and attractive, it is actually a glorification of Chaos and Confusion, life in this state  is tortured,  vacant and unfulfilling.

Resting in Jesus, you will find the peace you are looking for.

Here are some more verses that highlight God being in control, let’s be take these things in and see what God can do in our lives, when we give Him control.

Genesis 1:1 NKJV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

(1 Samuel 2:6-9 NKJV) “The LORD kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. {7} The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. {8} He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the beggar from the ash heap, To set them among princes And make them inherit the throne of glory. “For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, And He has set the world upon them. {9} He will guard the feet of His saints, But the wicked shall be silent in darkness. “For by strength no man shall prevail.

(2 Chronicles 7:13-14 NKJV) “When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, {14} “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

(Psalms 24:1 NKJV) The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.

(Psalms 75:6-7 NKJV) For exaltation comes neither from the east Nor from the west nor from the south. {7} But God is the Judge: He puts down one, And exalts another.

(Psalms 107:8-43 NKJV) Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! {9} For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness. {10} Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, Bound in affliction and irons; {11} Because they rebelled against the words of God, And despised the counsel of the Most High, {12} Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; They fell down, and there was none to help. {13} Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. {14} He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, And broke their chains in pieces. {15} Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! {16} For He has broken the gates of bronze, And cut the bars of iron in two. {17} Fools, because of their transgression, And because of their iniquities, were afflicted. {18} Their soul abhorred all manner of food, And they drew near to the gates of death. {19} Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He saved them out of their distresses. {20} He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions. {21} Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! {22} Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, And declare His works with rejoicing. {23} Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters, {24} They see the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep. {25} For He commands and raises the stormy wind, Which lifts up the waves of the sea. {26} They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble. {27} They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end. {28} Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. {29} He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. {30} Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven. {31} Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! {32} Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people, And praise Him in the company of the elders. {33} He turns rivers into a wilderness, And the watersprings into dry ground; {34} A fruitful land into barrenness, For the wickedness of those who dwell in it. {35} He turns a wilderness into pools of water, And dry land into watersprings. {36} There He makes the hungry dwell, That they may establish a city for a dwelling place, {37} And sow fields and plant vineyards, That they may yield a fruitful harvest. {38} He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly; And He does not let their cattle decrease. {39} When they are diminished and brought low Through oppression, affliction and sorrow, {40} He pours contempt on princes, And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way; {41} Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction, And makes their families like a flock. {42} The righteous see it and rejoice, And all iniquity stops its mouth. {43} Whoever is wise will observe these things, And they will understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.

(Proverbs 16:4 NKJV) The LORD has made all for Himself, Yes, even the wicked for the day of doom.

(Isaiah 45:4-9 NKJV) For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. {5} I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, {6} That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; {7} I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’ {8} “Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the LORD, have created it. {9} “Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

(Isaiah 66:1-2 NKJV) Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? {2} For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, And who trembles at My word.

(Lamentations 3:38-41 NKJV) Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed? {39} Why should a living man complain, A man for the punishment of his sins? {40} Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the LORD; {41} Let us lift our hearts and hands To God in heaven.

(Matthew 6:9-14 NKJV) “In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. {10} Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. {11} Give us this day our daily bread. {12} And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. {13} And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. {14} “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

(Matthew 11:25-26 NKJV) At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. {26} “Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.

(Acts 17:24-28 NKJV) “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. {25} “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. {26} “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, {27} “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; {28} “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

(Romans 1:16-23 NKJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. {17} For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” {18} For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, {19} because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. {20} For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, {21} because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. {22} Professing to be wise, they became fools, {23} and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

(Romans 8:28-39 NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. {29} For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. {30} Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. {31} What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? {32} He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? {33} Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. {34} Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. {35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? {36} As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” {37} Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. {38} For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, {39} nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 9:15-23 NKJV) For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” {16} So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. {17} For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” {18} Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens. {19} You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” {20} But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” {21} Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? {22} What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, {23} and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,

(1 Corinthians 1:25-31 NKJV) Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. {26} For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. {27} But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; {28} and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, {29} that no flesh should glory in His presence. {30} But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God; and righteousness and sanctification and redemption; {31} that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the LORD.”

(Ephesians 1:11-12 NKJV) In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, {12} that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

(Colossians 1:13-17 NKJV) He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, {14} in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. {15} He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. {16} For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. {17} And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

(James 4:6-10 NKJV) But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” {7} Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. {8} Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. {9} Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. {10} Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

(Revelation 4:11 NKJV) “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.”