(published in Delmont Record, September 12, 2017)

Who Is in Control?

“I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. ⁶ The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths.”  Psalm 135:5-6

As we look around our nation and the world today, it is easy to be reminded that there are many things that are out of our control. We look on helplessly as hurricanes batter major cities inflicting great damage and, sadly, loss of life. We look on helplessly as wildfires rage across the Pacific Northwest, across Idaho and into Montana and Wyoming. These natural disasters remind us that we are not in control of our environment. And on a grander scale (and a much nicer one), across our country many people were able to witness the total solar eclipse. This, too, was a wondrous reminder of the grandeur of God’s creation and our nearly complete lack of control over it.

But as helpless as we might feel when it comes to controlling nature, we might feel even more helpless in trying to control human nature. When we look around our world we see it gripped with chaos. The situation with North Korea seems hopeless as both sides of our political spectrum seem at a loss for the proper way to deal with the nuclear threat they pose while avoiding a horrific war. This week we also remember the tragic events of 9/11 – a day when chaos reigned. These situations, and others like it, terrify us because we want to feel like things are under control. We want to believe that every accident is preventable, that every disease is curable, and that every disaster is avoidable; we want control, or at the very least, the illusion of control.

And as much as we desire to control our environment, the fact is, we really have very little control over even our own lives. Jesus taught us in Luke 12:25-26, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? ²⁶ Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”  Jesus reminds us that we do not even have control about the span of our life much less have control over our environment. And as little control as we have over our earthly life, we have even less control over our eternal life. For Jesus also teaches us in Matthew 16:26-27, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.” Even if we were to control the entire world, it would not be enough to pay for our soul. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation or God’s grace and mercy. In fact, the only thing we earn is eternal death as it says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” [emphasis mine].

So what is the solution? Repentance. We need to admit before God that we are not in control. We need to not only confess He is the one in control of all things, but we also need to be willing to submit ourselves to His control. Romans 10:9 promises, “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” To confess Jesus as Lord is to give up control of our lives and pledge allegiance to Him. We also admit our inability to save ourselves and our need to be saved. Throughout history, natural disasters and celestial events such as an eclipse that are outside of our control were looked at as a reminder for our need to repent. They are demonstrations that God is in control and we are not, and they should rightly humble us.

Repentance is not only something we do individually, but it is needed corporately as well. 2 Chronicles 7:14 promises, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” National repentance needs to start with us – God’s people. We are called to pray to the Lord and seek His favor for our nation. We need to pray that He would turn our hearts, and the hearts of those around us toward Him. And we, as a nation, need to be humbled before God and confess that our security as a nation is not determined by our resolve, economic or military strength, or our history, but it is completely in the hands of God. In Psalm 46:10 the Lord says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”