Four life-changing words of faith–GOD IS IN CONTROL—are being spoken more now than I can ever recall. No doubt fueled by a crippling pandemic; I see evidence of it in the thousands of comments from our global online tribe. This is a very good thing for Christianity and indeed the world.
But that positive thought was interrupted yesterday by a dear friend in middle America who asked me to estimate the level of belief behind the increasingly common occurrence of believers claiming that GOD IS IN CONTROL (GIIC).
His piercing question pushed my curiosity in two directions: 1) What percentage of these spoken words (GIIC) quickly crash to the ground–like a teenager dropping a cymbal in music class—after tumbling out of the speaker’s good-intentioned mouth; and 2) What percentage are spoken and, at the same time, become locked in the speaker’s heart (Psalm 119:11) and then invade their soul.
The answer was easy because the evidence is clear. NOT MANY.
There is no indictment here. ALL OF US struggle with applying the proper amount of belief to God’s truth that he is in control.
That’s no surprise. It takes discipline, intentionality, and prayerful commitment to make our default response be 100% BELIEF in God’s Sovereignty. This is the ideal response that is activated when we process events and challenges that continually climb over our life’s transom.
Here are the three steps I take to maximize my belief that God is in control:
STEP ONE
Acknowledge that GOD IS SOVERIGN over every part of life on earth. Every circumstance. Every atom. Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow. There is great comfort in that for followers of Christ when it comes to extinguishing flames of fear. But the level of comfort we receive is determined by our belief in God’s Sovereignty.
STEP TWO
Commit to KNOW GOD because we cannot fully trust someone we do not know. And the only way to know God is to know what he says in the Bible.
STEP THREE
Discipline yourself to SPIRITUAL MATURITY by knowing that there are no shortcuts to growing in Christ.
I ask God to help me trust his sovereignty and believe—through my heart and into my soul—that he is TRULY IN CONTROL of everything.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
On a scale of 1-10–1=None, 10=Complete–how much BELIEF do you have when you speak out loud or think internally that GOD IS IN CONTROL?
“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
