God's word proclaims that He has all power and controls all things that come to past.
Christ upholds all things by the word of His power! In Him we live, and move, and have our existence. By Christ all things were created and are held together.
The book of Job is an early writing that demonstrates these truths.
God rules! God is in control!
How often we forget these truths when we are in trouble, or cast down, or in great distress.
When we are in crisis, and things seem to be piling upon us, we often think that the devil is besieging us from all sides.
Our families are divided and fighting, our kids are falling into sin and trouble, or we are sick, miserable, or broke.
Through all this, we must trust that our God rules in all things!
None of these things are happening because God has lost control. Rather, God Himself takes the credit for bringing these things into our lives for His noble and glorious purposes, though we cannot fathom what they might be.
The devil is not in control. Rather, God is in complete control of the devil. God will work all things together for our good, for we trust in Him.
No matter how bad our lot seems now, one day we will come to agree that God has done the best for us.
Job is a great example of this truth. The backstory, which Job did not then know, is that Satan mocked his faithfulness to God, and God took away all that Job treasured, to test Job, to humiliate Satan, and to demonstrate God's utter control over everything.
At all times, Satan was under God's rule, even as Satan sought Job's harm.
When we are in trouble, it may well be that the devil is attacking us, but God always has a tight rein on him! |