By Doug Creamer
God’s Got it All in Control
Did anyone else struggle with anxiety over last week’s ice storm? I follow storms, especially winter storms and hurricanes, very closely. I try to keep up on the trends and what is expected. I follow trusted meteorologists as well as studying the models personally and try to understand the guidance the meteorologists give related to the storms.
Honestly, I am not sure how meteorologists do their jobs because the models come in with such conflicting information. One predicts snow, another ice, another rain, and still another a dry day. How do they develop their forecasts from that information? I have great empathy for them as they strive to inform us. As one meteorologist recently pointed out, only God knows the future and they are trying to guess what God is doing.
The anxiety I was struggling with wasn’t solely centered around the potential ice storm and the worry over the loss of power and the many inconveniences that we would all encounter as a result. There are other worries going on in our family that are out of my control. All this was distracting me and keeping my mind focused elsewhere rather than on God, who has us all in His hands.
When we take our eyes off of God and put them on our circumstances then our circumstances feel bigger than God. In a way, I think that is what happened to Peter when he was walking on the water. Jesus told Peter he could come out of the boat and walk on the water to Him. Peter stepped out in faith and had his eyes focused on Jesus. The trouble was that as Peter was successfully walking on the water towards Jesus he somehow took his eyes off Jesus. That’s when his mind took over and told Peter he couldn’t walk on water. Peter looked at the storm and the big waves and he believed his circumstances instead of trusting what Jesus told him. He started to sink because his eyes were on the wrong things.
We all face stressful circumstances. We all have things we can worry about. We all have things that can make us anxious. We all have things that are beyond our control. Where are our eyes in those moments? Are we focusing on the things and circumstances or on God? We choose where we focus.
Sometimes things work out and all our worry, stress, and anxiety were unnecessary. What do we do when things don’t work out? The ice storm hits and we lose power. We get in a car accident. We get hurt while working. Our bills are greater than our income. We have to go to the hospital. What do we do in those moments when things feel out of control? We are looking for God, but like Peter, find ourselves sinking.
I believe that Peter was completely immersed in the water but Jesus reached down and pulled him up. I also believe that Peter walked on the water back to the boat. His eyes were back on Jesus and His faith restored. I believe the same thing applies to us. We take our eyes off Jesus and things around us seem to fall apart. The circumstances overwhelm us. Then along comes Jesus, who was there all the time, and He picks us up.
When everything seems to be going wrong… When life comes at us from every direction… When we feel overwhelmed… What do we do? Where are our eyes? This is hard. This is when our faith gets tested. Do we believe God is in control when circumstances look different than we expect? King David writes over and over about very similar circumstances. He looks around at his circumstances and cries out to God, “Where are you?” But then, and this is very important, he takes his eyes off the circumstances and puts them back on God. He declares the goodness of God, the faithfulness of God, the mercy of God, the kindness of God, and the love of God. He reminds himself of God’s faithfulness in the past and tells himself that God will come through for him again in his present circumstances.
I want to encourage you to remind yourself that God is in control. I know, sometimes it doesn’t look that way. We don’t understand. But we, like David, have to remind ourselves of God’s goodness and faithfulness. God promises to never leave us or forsake us. There will be moments when we have to trust Him. I want to assure you God’s got it all in control. Rest in Him. Trust in Him. And let His peace guard your heart and mind.
Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com
