God Controls All

“I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.” (Ec 3:14 AV)

Let us, from the get go, state the bible position.  God is sovereign.  He has decreed all things.  Yet, man does have the ability to choose freely.  This is a mystery, and a truth of great comfort.  It is the ultimate in God’s sovereignty.  His sovereignty both includes, yet is not dependent upon, the free will choices of men.  This Biblical truth is one of great security.  This means that no matter how much I screw up, it will not cause God one iota of control over His creation.  In His foreknowledge, He already took into account my choices and has ordered His creation accordingly.  There is nothing I can to do mess up God’s plan.  He controls all!

Now that we have that out of the way, let us make come practical application.  My earthly father was a master as chess.  Not the board game.  Well, he may have been.  I never played him.  No, my dad was a grand-master at the chess game of life.  He was always three steps ahead of his children.  He was a master strategist.  Nothing could get by him.  His house was as it should be.  Sometimes, it was by direct intervention of the rod.  Other times, it was planning circumstances so the outcome would be certain.  Still others, instruction in wisdom ordered the house.  He had many tools in his tool box.  Our home was a well-oiled machine.  Not because my dad was a drill sergeant.  No.  It was so because my father could foresee all the possible outcomes of any situation and planned well in advance for his optimal outcome.  It didn’t matter where we were or what we were doing.  He had it already figured in the grand scheme of things.  This produced a healthy respect for my father.  Not that we were always afraid of him.  Although that type of fear was a factor.  The other kind of fear was also there.  That is probably why he didn’t raise rebels.  Not as other families did.  We knew that no matter what we did, he already knew it as a possibility and would eventually find out about it anyway.  We were in checkmate the moment we were born.  And that is wonderful!

To know that God is in control is the security every child of God needs.  Like a two-year-old who throws temper-tantrums to see if his daddy is going to put up with it, we test the ability of God to control things because we cannot.  Once we resign to the fact we are always in checkmate, then life gets a whole lot easier and much less stress.  Fear Him because He already has it already figured out!