Always be cautious about invoking the “God is in control” card. Of course He is. But, it is His card to play, not ours. Personal responsibility matters. A lot.
~ Makala Barnabas Doulos
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, Who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil…. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him Who for their sake died and was raised.
~ paul, The Least of The Apostles, in 2 Corinthians 5
Oh beloved, it is true.
We will go through trials. And, so much of what we will be going through is actually a terrible tragedy. However, as people walk on by and cluck their tongues at our disasters and cluck out this embarrassingly simple statement: “Don’t worry, G_d is sovereign.”
We have no idea.
Now, before any of you dear readers believe that this fool of a writer does not believe in the sovereignty of G_d, think again. I am utterly convinced that the Very Maker of Eternity, and time, and space, and everything else is very much in control of everything. He is even the Author and Finisher of the very faith we engage to come to know Him.
The point here is for us to realize Who is actually in control. And so, when we let “G_d is in control” just roll so blithely off our tongues. We miss two things that are terrifically import.
Can we see it?
1. It is so Beautiful. Time is where we downgrade Him – as though He were bound by something He holds in His own hands as a bauble. He knows, for He is already was and is, and will be – waiting so to speak, on our arrival at the moment of our choice. Said more simply: G_d has no need to predict anything. He already there. Time is a subset of G_d, and He fully exists in all points along that line. This, if we can begin to allow it, is referenced in this life by His main attribute: that being the He(They) is(are) Love itself. Love does not change, but it surely changes us.
2. We are His ambassadors on this earth. G_d, just like with the original writers of Scripture, works in us and through us. And – He works with us. We are part of His Body. We are not puppets. And so, our choices in each matter are just as real as His.
The Breath Who fanned a quintillion suns’ fires to life, took on a frame that needed His mother’s breath to breathe for Him, for nine months. And as The Very Author of Eternity broke through the waters of the birth of every natural man, He set another fire which will never go out – even after all of the stars have burned to ash. His Kingdom will have no end. This cycle is, in and of itself, a wonderful picture of His interworking with reality.
So, hopefully we can catch something here. It is not too mystical. It is His unfailing, transtemporal, completely bigger than time – LOVE, that is in control of our lives. And so again, when we see His Power and Control for what they are, we can begin to not feel as though He has abandoned when things go badly for us. For, perfect (grown up, mature, steadfast) Love never abandons anyone. Never.
Tonight is your night. Time to believe in the overwhelming sovereign Love-nature of G_d.
When we carry it up to relations between God and Man, has the distinction perhaps become nonsensical? After all, when we are most free, it is only with a freedom God has given us: and when our will is most influenced by Grace, it is still our will. And if what our will does is not ‘voluntary’, and if ‘voluntary’ does not mean ‘free’, what are we talking about? I’d leave it all alone.
~ CS Lewis
