IS GOD REALLY IN CONTROL?

by Jim Corner

As we look at our world, the title of this article may be on the lips of many. Whether it is the bloodshed of Kosovo, the dictatorial oppression of Saddam Hussein, the horror of child pornography, the perversion of homosexuality or any other of a 1000 sinful acts; is the Lord really in control or is Satan driving this train?

One of the reasons why we can have peace is the knowledge that the Lord IS in control. Granted, he allows evil to exist for a period of time but not for ever. I am not trying in any way to make light of any difficulties you may be experiencing but Jesus told his followers in John 14:27 that He was giving peace to them. He goes on to state that it is not worldly peace, that is, His peace transcends this world. The fact is, however, that even today God is in control.

I want us to examine two stories from the book of Genesis that illustrate this point. The first is a very familiar one regarding Noah and the flood. In Genesis 6:5 we see that the reason why God destroyed the earth with a flood was because of the evil thoughts of man. The only family that was spared was the family of Noah. The Bible says that Noah was a perfect and righteous man. God instructed him to build a huge boat. It was 563 feet long, 93 feet wide and 56 feet high. God told Noah to take his family into the ark and in addition, at least one pair of every kind of animal on the face of the earth. The Lord then brought a rain that lasted for 40 days and 40 nights. The ark was home for Noah, his family and the animals for approximately 300 days. After the flood was over, the Bible says that Noah worshipped the Lord.

What lesson do we learn from this story that can benefit us today? Simply that God will not tolerate sin forever and that righteous people always prevail in the end. Yes, God is patient and desires for all to come to salvation but His patience is not eternal. When we see people who apparently are getting 'away with murder' the reality is that they are getting away with nothing. The day will come when the world will end and all will stand before the judgment bar of Christ and no one will escape. Too often we focus on this life but we must understand that there is far more than our existence on planet earth. Jesus told His followers in John 14:1-4 that He was going back to Heaven to prepare a place for them. The truth of the matter is that if you are on the devil's side, you cannot win and if you are on the Lord's side, you cannot lose.

The second story that we want to examine is in Genesis 11:1-9. We learn, among other things, the origin of foreign language from this story. There was a time when all of earth's inhabitants spoke the same language. These people decided to build a tower that would reach clear up to heaven. This was not the Lord's will, however, so He confused their language and their inability to converse with each other stopped the building project.

The great value of this story is found in verse 6 where we read the following: "the Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." This verse is so intriguing because those He speaks of are not His people. God has placed within man great power to accomplish mighty things.

We learn from this story that our plans must come from the Lord. If we presume to act without the blessing of God, our plans will ultimately fail. We read in the book of James that we are to make our plans with the Lord in mind (James 4:13-15). When we make plans without seeking the counsel of God, we may well find ourselves in opposition to the Lord and that is one battle that we will not win.

We are surrounded by individuals who do not respect the Lord nor follow His teachings. They may prosper in the short term but that is all. One day all of the wrongswill be righted. Throughout the scriptures we see example after example of man at war with God and we always see who the ultimate victor is. We also see that even though it may appear as though the Lord is not active, the truth is that He is always in control.

©2001 Buckingham Road Church of Christ