control

You are God alone-Phillips Craig & Dean
You are not a God Created by human hands
You are not a god Dependant on any mortal man
You are not a god In need of anything we can give
By Your plan, that’s just the way it is

CHORUS
You are God alone
From before time began
You were on Your throne
Your are God alone
And right now In the good times and bad
You are on Your throne
You are God alone

You’re the only God Whose power none can contend
You’re the only God Whose name and praise will never end
You’re the only God Who’s worthy of everything we can give
You are God And that’s just the way it is

Unchangeable Unshakable Unstoppable That’s what You are

As you can see, I am still in my music lyric series. I was unable to feature just a few lines from this song; you need to read the whole thing to understand its depth.

I would imagine you expect me to write about Israel and the conflict unfolding as I write. This continuing saga captivates me, and as I write, I am listening to coverage of the crisis on AM radio.

This is a much larger issue then one may imagine. Many are saying that this is fulfillment of biblical prophecy. Perhaps, but for me this is not the most important part.

I am aware, and sometimes very guilty of forgetting God in these kinds of situations. Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami, the earthquakes in Pakistan; even the war in Iraq. Television coverage of said tragedies always features someone lamenting, “Why did God do this to us…” and, “Where was God during all of this…” It is easy to focus on the event at hand, rather than the God that is in control.

I had an email from a dear friend the other day. I will not go into detail, but she asked me why an unfortunate event happened in her life. She asked me what the Bible verse is that dealt with God being in control of all situations.

Isn’t that the essence of living on this earth? People base their belief in God on whether or not bad things happen to them. And if God is in control, why does He allow tragedies to occur?

I guess it is easy to struggle with these questions. Why isn’t God working the helm, preventing accidents and tragedies?

The simple answer is that this world is not as it seems. This world has sin, and it will until Jesus returns. This world has disease, death and suffering; it is the land of the dying. Let us look at what Jesus and Paul say about this world.

“In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” –Jesus in John 16.33

“My kingdom is not of this world.” -Jesus in John 17.36

“For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” Paul in 1 Corinthians 3.19

Jesus solves the problem of pain and suffering in the first quote above. He has overcome the world. He has created a kingdom that will reign forever for those who believe in Him and love Him. While His children are here, we will suffer. But no matter how bad things become here, take heart because we know the end of the story. We can proclaim, “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” 1 John 4.9

If you are not one of His children, all is not lost. He desires a relationship with you much more than anyone else you will ever know. He wants your heart, and He wants you to know that in the end, everything will be all right. Just ask Him.

He has redeemed me from a life of misery and loss. I would never have pulled myself from the mire on my own. do I still suffer? Yes, but I take it in stride. Things will be better one day.

“Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes nor on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Paul in 2 Corinthians 4.16-18

“He (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – God in Revelation 21.11