Is God Really in Control?

I was asking myself this question just last night. There are so many areas in my life in which I need to ask, "Do I really believe God is in control of everything?"

Although I do not agree with the direction our country is going under our current leadership, God is ultimately in control. We lived in IL when our current president became a senator. The Republicans probably had a good chance in the race, but one day a domino fell. One past event began the beginning of a collection of events that I truly believe ushered him into state office and subsequently into the national spotlight. That was a not a mistake, a coicidence, a happenstance. It was God's will. No matter what may come, God IS in control. He does not sleep or slumber. He does not make mistakes.

As some of you know, the year 2006 was utterly exhuasting, trying, and in some ways never-ending to us. There are still times when I wonder why God allowed all of that into our lives - the death of a loved one, vandalism, health issues, expensive vehicle repairs, a break-in, and several other things. But again, God does not sleep or slumber. He did not forget to protect us - as a matter of fact He DID protect us. He did not make any mistakes.

And now as we are in the pre-field stage we are often asked or people comment about the effect of the economy on our support raising. We know it is taking longer in these days than it did ten or fifteen years ago. We just met a missionary this week who had all his support after visiting 35 churches. We have already visited that many and have not yet reached 1/3 of our final requirement.

I must once again ask myself, "Is God really in control?" If so, do I really believe it? If I do I will not wonder why we are not further in the pre-field process. Or why the economy is at it is. Or why more churches are not taking us on for support. Or even how long it is going to take us. I will not sit during and after a missions conference and ponder, "Will this church take us on or will they take on someone else? What if they don't have the ability to take anyone on? Will they remember us if the finances do become available? What if we weren't interesting enough, friendly enough, or funny enough? What if they didn't think our kids behaved well enough?"

A missionary friend of ours recently said to me that mission conferences can be hard because it is easy to feel as if they are a competition. And in many ways he was right. It's not that I don't want the other family to go to or return to the field quickly, it's just I want to go soon too!

Wednesday night as I sat in the final service of our most recent conference I began thinking of a variety of reasons why they would probably take on the other family. The reasons aren't really important, but the root of my thoughts is. The decision, in my mind, was based on this and that, this connection, this reason, etc. rather than God being in control of it all. He already knows if they will take on either of us and when. He already knows the amount if they do. He already knows why they will or won't. He is not panicked by the economy or in turmoil over how He will get the finances to get us to the field.

In what area of your life do you need to stop and ask, "Is God really in control? And if so, do I believe it? Do I live like it?"