Control ... less

I stood in the checkout line and my eyes fell on the headline in People Magazine:  “Kate’s Baby Plan – A Princess Guide to Pregnancy.”  And I had to smile because we all want to feel like we have some sort of control, right?  I’m guessing she is already pregnant.  But if anyone could control this sort of thing, it would be royalty, wouldn’t it?

 

I was reminded of Genesis when Abraham declared Sarah to be his sister (Genesis 20:1-21:1).  No, not the first time when they went down into Egypt.  This was a second time!  Think of this – at this point Sarah was about ninety years old.  And still so beautiful that Abraham feared for his life if he went into Gerar, between Kadesh and Shur, and claimed to be married to her.  And sure enough Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took her.  But God came to him in a dream and called him a dead man, said that she was a man’s wife.  Abimelech had not come near her and declared his innocence to God, saying that he had been lied to.

 

God told him this was why He had not allowed Abimelech to touch her.  He told him that, if he would restore her to Abraham and Abraham prayed for him, he would live.  But that was not all that was going on.  Verses 17 and 18 tell us that, after Abraham prayed for Abimelech and his wife and servants, the women bore children again.  God had closed their wombs because of Sarah.  That in itself is pretty amazing.  But here’s the stop-you-in-your-tracks detail.  The very next verse, 18:1, tells us that then Sarah, 90-year-old Sarah, conceived Isaac!

 

Control?  I don’t have it; I don’t want it.  As believers, we know that we have a sovereign God who controls every detail of our lives.  We know that He works all things for good because we love Him and have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).   There is an old book called “God Is My Co-Pilot” that was made into a movie.  I don’t want God as a co-pilot; I want Him to be flying the plane!

 

He knows me better than I know myself and He sees the big picture.  And I make a mess of things, every time.  His love is higher than the heavens and everything that touches me has been ordained or allowed by Him.  So the bottom line is do I trust His love and faithfulness?

 

Psalms 103:15-19 and 108:3-5

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD'S love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children—with those who keep His covenant and remember to obey His precepts.  The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all…I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.