12

January

Never more powerful than God

“Humans who break our trust do not have the power to break apart God’s good plan for our lives.  They may have enough influence in our lives to hurt our hearts and make us feel derailed.  We may even think their actions have created so much destruction that life will never be normal again.  But people are never more powerful than God.” -Lysa TerKeurst

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”- Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)

In Chapter 8 (“What We Don’t Trust, We Will Try to Control”) of I Want to Trust You, but I Don’t, Lysa TerKeurst observes that at times life works like a surprise party.  But at other times life works as a surprise attack.  Thus, only one thing is certain in life.  That life’s filled with the unexpected.

Therefore, Lysa notes, the more our life deviates from our definition of good, the more we attempt to control the uncontrollable.  Certainly, we want to show responsibility.  But we need to keep ourselves in check.  So that our desire to be responsible doesn’t cross over into the impossible task of controlling the uncontrollable.

Hence, the control Lysa refers to here centers on the desire to keep ourselves and those we love from experiencing hardships and heartbreaks.  However, this desire turns unhealthy when we try to prevent what’s beyond our ability to control.  In addition, that takes away our need to participate in the sometimes-terrifying unknown of trusting God.

But our desire to control = an illusion.  Perhaps even a delusion.  Furthermore, such desire is presumptuous of us.  And, it’s prideful to think we know what’s best/

In conclusion, Lysa counsels:

“However control plays out for you and whatever reasons there are that shaped you this way, please know that trying to keep things under control using realistic measures is a good quality.  But if you and I are holding on so tightly that our stress and anxiety are making it challenging to be around us . . . we need to recognize this isn’t a sustainable way to live.”

Today’s question: What Scriptures help you realize people are never more powerful than God?  Please share.

Tomorrow’s blog: “Telling God to move over”

About the author 

Dave Henning

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}
Call Now Button