Not in Control

The terrible reality is that even healthy, fit people get cancer. Even people that take precautions can be killed in a traffic accident. Suffering at some point will touch us all and we have no control over when and where that happens.

So how are we to live with a reality like this?

Let me share with you some things about this reality that have brought me comfort.

I am not in control: Perspective - This doesn't sound very comforting...and in truth I don't know if it would be comforting to anyone (maybe I'm weird...this is likely). The feeling I'm trying to convey is that same feeling I get when looking up to the stars and seeing how small I am in comparison or looking out the window of an airplane and seeing how tiny all the cars appear. That kind of perspective is terrifying because I realize that this life isn't centered around me, I'm just a small part of a big story. I also find it very comforting because it puts me in my place so-to-speak. My tragedies are small in comparison with the larger story that is taking place.

I am not in control: Powerless - If it's something I can control like something at work, some project, I know that I can mess things up. I check, double-check, and re-check to make sure that I'm not making mistakes and when the project leaves my hands I always want feedback to know if I did a good job or if I made a lot of mistakes. When something is out of my control and I find myself powerless to affect it I don't need to worry about any of those things. It is comforting to me to know that when I am out of control I know the one who is in control.

So...what do we know about the one who is in control?

We know that there is no evil that is beyond His power to redeem. Let me give an illustration. The greatest, most cruel evil this world has ever brought against one man is the evil of the cross. Jesus Christ was full of grace and truth, love incarnate. He was unjustly arrested, he had a fake trial which false witnesses (liars) were brought against him to try and make charges stick, he was disgarded by his own people (the Jewish people chose to have a known murder released instead of Jesus), he was beaten brutally, he was tortured to within an inch of his life, then he was crucified all the while being mocked and ridiculed.

Such a great evil against such a pure person has never been committed before and again after this event. It was and is the greatest evil this world has ever seen and yet The Lord is so powerful that He turned the greatest evil into the greatest good.

Is 53:10-12 NLT

But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him 

and cause him grief. 

Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, 

he will have many descendants. 

He will enjoy a long life, 

and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. 

11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, 

he will be satisfied. 

And because of his experience, 

my righteous servant will make it possible 

for many to be counted righteous, 

for he will bear all their sins. 

12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier, 

because he exposed himself to death. 

He was counted among the rebels. 

He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. 

Act 2:22-24 NLT

People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene* by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know. 23 But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him. 24 But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip. 

Gal 3:13,14 NLT

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”* 14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised* Holy Spirit through faith. 

1 Peter 1:22-25 NLT

22 He never sinned, 

nor ever deceived anyone.* 

23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted, 

nor threaten revenge when he suffered. 

He left his case in the hands of God, 

who always judges fairly. 

24 He personally carried our sins 

in his body on the cross 

so that we can be dead to sin 

and live for what is right. 

By his wounds 

you are healed. 

25 Once you were like sheep 

who wandered away. 

But now you have turned to your Shepherd, 

the Guardian of your souls. 

This redeeming power is not limited to the cross. The Lord redeems even the evils that we do in our everyday lives. The book of Genesis reads very similar to the transcript of the Jerry Springer show. One of the stories is of brothers who sold their youngest brother into slavery because they hated him. The youngest brother (that was sold into slavery) was named Joseph. Because of this evil his brothers did to him Joseph is forced to live a hard life full of suffering. He experiences very difficult set backs time and time again, is falsely accused and imprisoned but eventually God uses him and brings him into a situation where he can save the lives of others. At the end of the story Joseph says this

Gen 50:20 NLT

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

The author of most of the New Testament affirms this same truth. In a letter to the church in Rome he says this regarding followers of Jesus Christ,

Rom 8:28 NLT

28 And we know that God causes everything to work together* for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them

Notice in the above verse that it doesn't say that all things are good but rather The Lord can and will cause everything to work together for good.

How do you survive in life's storms? How do you push on when life is tragic? By looking to the one who is Hope incarnate, by looking to the one who created all things, sustains them and causes them to work together for good.

Col 1:16-22 NLT

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. 

He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,* 

16 for through him God created everything 

in the heavenly realms and on earth. 

He made the things we can see 

and the things we can’t see— 

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. 

Everything was created through him and for him. 

17 He existed before anything else, 

and he holds all creation together. 

18 Christ is also the head of the church, 

which is his body. 

He is the beginning, 

supreme over all who rise from the dead.* 

So he is first in everything. 

19 For God in all his fullness 

was pleased to live in Christ, 

20 and through him God reconciled 

everything to himself. 

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth 

by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. 

21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.