Who's In Charge?

 

We’ve heard it said, or maybe even said it ourselves, “Nothing good ever happens to me.” We get some unwelcome news, things don’t go as planned, etc., and we immediately respond negatively. I recognize that some folks experience more misfortune than others, and maybe you’re someone who has delt with an overwhelming number of headaches.

I was reading an article written by a woman who was raising a difficult child. In the article she confessed how her faith in God had deepened in the midst of her struggles. She said something that made me stop for a moment and think. She wrote, “I found out God really doesn’t give you more than you can handle. He just makes sure you know He’s the one in charge!” What made me pause was her last statement. I have to admit that this never occurred to me when thinking about life’s challenges. God doesn’t necessarily take away the challenge or even make it easier. The promise is it won’t be more than we can bear. I guess I had always thought that it would become easier. But if we begin to think that somehow, we are handling it by our own strength, then we are not really trusting in God.

[Romans 8:28] Hardships seemed to follow the apostle Paul everywhere he journeyed (2 Corinthians 11:24ff). Job, could easily have won the award for “misfortunate man of the year.” Even David, in in those years before becoming king over all of Israel, faced an onslaught of headaches and pain (1 Samuel 18:1ff). What about Joseph? You think you’ve had it bad? A quick journey with Joseph (Genesis 37-50) will make one realize how truly blessed you are. Speaking of this man Joseph, it would do us well to remember his words to his brothers who had, by their evil deeds, brough about his many sorrows: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day to save many people alive” (Genesis 50:20). You read it correctly, “but God meant it for good.” If Joseph’s brothers never sell him to the Midianites, then Joseph never goes to Egypt – he’s never sold to Potiphar – Potiphar’s wife never falsely accuses him of rape, then he is never put in prison – he never meets the baker and butler of Pharaoh, he never interprets their dreams – thus, he never interprets Pharaoh’s dreams – he’s never rewarded and made prime minister – he never wisely administrates for the severe famine coming upon the region – if so, then his family back in Canaan perishes from the famine – thus the Messiah couldn’t come forth from a dead family – Jesus would have never come. If Jesus never came, you would still be dead in your sins and without hope in this world.

 Instead of complaining and being critical of all the misfortune he had endured, Joseph, as he looks back on his life, recognized the providential workings of God and the ultimate good that resulted. We, like Joseph, need to focus more on the big picture and not the big problem before us!

[2 Corinthians 12:7-10] Jesus is calling us to follow Him, bidding us to “take up our cross” and come after Him. Surely that cross has to do with the burdens and challenges we confront as humans in this life. We each carry our own foibles and shortcomings. Who we are and where we come from are always with us. We take these with us in following the Lord. We become victims of our own desires or of circumstances that we cannot control. In all this God helps us in that they will not overwhelm us. This is either because He is in control of what happens, or He gives us the strength to stand.

I like the thought, “He just makes sure you know He’s the one in charge.” Paul wrote about his request to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” The answer was in the power of God being revealed and demonstrated through Paul’s weakness. Reveal God in your weakness.