“…And so you cancel the word of God for the sake of your own tradition.” (Matthew 15:6b NLT)
“Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.(Psalm 78:41 NKJV)
“The heavens belong to the LORD, but he has given the earth to all humanity.” (Psalm 115:16 NLT)
I hear the phrase “God is in control” being said by someone, read it somewhere, or hear it in a song, almost everyday. It is one of the most commonly used “Christian cliches” out there. It represents one of the core beliefs of a vast number of Christians. And yet, it is never stated in the Bible.
I used to use it all of the time. When I didn’t understand something. When something bad happened that I couldn’t explain. When someone got sick or died for no apparent reason. When unexpected tragedy of any type occurred, this was my go to explanation. As with so many others, it became my answer when life happened that was beyond my comprehension or out of my control. As a person raised in “religion” I had never stopped to think about what this phrase was actually communicating to those around me. Especially those who were not raised to think “religiously” like I was.
When a child dies, the loss shatters our hearts, and devastates our thinking. The initial pain is beyond our ability to bear. Most of us look desperately for a way to ease the pain. Some look to substances like prescription medications, alcohol, or drugs. For me, who over time had been trained to gain comfort from the concept that “God is in control,” I would turn to “religion.” The idea that “God is in control” was a spiritual sedative. It eased the pain and allowed me to stop thinking about the tragedy. However, once the initial pain subsided, It left me with questions that I was either unable, or unwilling, to face.
When tragedy strikes, and my response is, “God is in control,” it leaves me with only two options. Either God did it, or God allowed it. Either of these options leaves me in a position of following a Heavenly Father that does, or allows, things that would land my Earthly Father behind bars. Somehow I was able to accept reasoning that excused God’s control over things like a child dying, or a person being struck with cancer, or any number of tragedies, by convincing myself that this is what is meant by passages that tell me that I can’t understand the way God operates. Things like, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away,” or “God’s ways are higher than my ways.” (I will deal with some of these religious cliches as well).
At the risk of turning over some apple carts…….wait for it…
…God is not in control!
If God was controlling everything that happens in this fallen, sin sick world, then He would be a murderer, a thief, and a sadistic giver of pain and suffering. He would either be the one performing these acts of destruction, or, with the capability of stopping them, would simply stand by and watch it happen. Either of these options is totally unacceptable, and yet once religion had numbed my mind I was able to somehow keep myself from acknowledging this logical conclusion. No wonder Jesus was so violently opposed to religion. No wonder He was so harsh in the way He confronted the religious leaders of His day.
Now that I have rocked the boat, I am going to wait until tomorrow to look at this more closely. I am going to share some things that I have learned that have set me free from “religion” and have catapulted my relationship with Jesus to a whole new level.
In preparation for tomorrow’s life lesson I ask that you pray for the Holy Spirit’s assistance in reading what I have to say with the faith of a child and the discernment of a mature believer.
It is time to dig deeper into…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 66: “Time to turn over the apple cart“ Part 1: God is in control. What in the world does that mean?