I haven’t been able to sleep well or even go about my day without my mind racing about a certain turmoil I’ve been dealing with.  I’m sure we all go through times like this.  And some of you have multiple turmoils you’re dealing with simultaneously.  And no, running low on bacon isn’t a turmoil.  But we’ll talk again once we run out.

The problem when we don’t have peace is that we’re taking too much pressure on ourselves.

There’s only so much we can do.  But as much as we’d like to think we are, we are not in control of the universe.

We all want to be our own god. We want our own sense of justice administered in this world.  We want to have control over what is going to happen and how people treat us.

But I’ve found out, that I’m not a god.  I’m just a little, tiny, weak, good looking sinner.

I don’t control the weather, or the economy, politics, the real estate market, or my boss, or my parents, or my kids, or my spouse, or American Idol.

All the stresses those things place on me make me realize more and more how small I am.

Some of us stay up and night thinking about what we can do to fix the situation.  Or we get in a bad mood, or we let the stress build up between us and our spouse, parents/kids, coworkers, whoever.  Or we spend time dreading a situation that hasn’t even arrived yet.  Or we have theoretical arguments running through our heads.

We think we have the necessary amount of control to make a difference.

We go past the part of just coming up with a plan of action, but we go on and internalizing the pressure by thinking that what we do or don’t can fix or ruin a situation.

But we are not God.  We do not control the universe.  We don’t control people’s hearts, or society, or the economy.  We are weak.

But you know what?

Understanding our weakness is half the point.

The other half of is our response to understanding that weakness.

Listen to these verses about our weakness.

2 Cor 12[9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Wow, that’s a powerful verse.

So what do we do?

How do we “delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties”?

His grace is made perfect when we understand our weakness and frailty and stop believing that we control things, and that it is only God who controls things, and that He controls things for our good, because He has an all-powerful love for us.

So we need to do three things when things are going wrong and we are trying to find peace.

1.  As you pray, praise God for his sovereignty (his ability to control the universe), and that he uses this control in whatever situation you’re dealing with because he loves us.

2.  Pray for wisdom so you know what God wants you to do in this situations that’s bothering you.

3.  Pray for humility so you understand that our strength comes from this humility, by knowing we must simply be obedient, and that the rest is up to God.

When we don’t have peace, a lot of times it’s really because we don’t feel like God is in control – and that’s an insult to God.

So remember…

Don’t freak out, God knows what he’s doing.

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2 Cor 12[9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Take time to pray: Praise God for his sovereignty and love.  Delight in your weakness, because God’s grace is enough.

Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Peace.

At first glance, it might be hard to mix the concepts of God’s ultimate control, our responsibility and real consequences together.  Kinda like what I saw at Costco yesterday – a “great tasting vegetarian burrito”.  It’s like someone took the three opposing concepts and combined them into something illogical… and horrific.

It might seem similarly illogical to some when trying to mix God’s control, our actions and real consequences together.

If God is in control of the universe, then are we really responsible for anything?  And does our behavior actually have real consequences?

The concepts seem like they’re at odds with one another.

But look at it like this…

Let’s say God has a football team (obviously not the Patriots or the Eagles), and since He’s God, He’s going to win the game no matter what.

He’s called a play where you’ll receive the pass and score a touchdown.  But you are disobedient and don’t step on the field.  God will have his quarterback (someone good looking like me) just throw it to someone else, and you’ll watch from the sidelines as someone else scores the touchdown.

In this example God is still in control.  God still wins the game.  But because of our disobedience, we don’t score the touchdown.  Our actions have real negative consequences to ourselves.   It also hurts our relationship with our teammates and coach.

But instead of scoring a touchdown, what if the touchdown was ministering to someone in need, finding the right job, having a good relationship with family or spouse.  Well then, God will find someone else to score those touchdowns.

So what do we do?

We have to know the position God has called us to.  These are called our callings.  (For more of callings go here, here then here.)

a. What kind of person are you?  Are you an encourager?  A leader?  A prayer person?

b. What are you good at?  Are you good at parenting, marriage, finances and can in turn help others?

c.  What are your experiences?  What struggles have you been through that can help you minister to those currently going through something similar?

God made you different in a bunch of different ways.  It makes you the perfect person to help in a particular task.

And since this world is so messed up, there are plenty of touchdowns you can score. You just need to know where he wants you to be and he’ll get the ball to you.

This inspirational message has been brought to you by Costco, the distributors of the great tasting vegetarian burrito… antacid sold separately.

1 Cor 3[7] So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. [8] The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. [9] For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

Take Time to Pray: Ask God to be excited about the work He’s given you because He’s given it to you out of love.

Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness.

 

I don’t know if you’ve noticed by we’re not the gods of universe.  And contrary to what you might think, I’m not in control either.  I know, hard to believe that someone so handsome and intelligent isn’t in control, but I’m not.

It might seem obvious to you that we’re not in control, but we act in a way where we think we’re in control.

We always get into arguments with others where we ultimately think, ”Man, if I could just say that one magical thing to my family member, boss, friends, they would see the truth and change.”

Or, “Man, if I worry about my finances or family enough, things will change.”

It’s not like me worrying about, “Man, if I just chose the cheeseburger over the tacos, I wouldn’t be so gassy right now.”  That was under my control.  I had the choices and knew the risks and accepted the consequences.

No, we worry about stuff outside our control like the economy, family stuff, politics, our job.

We might as well worry about everything else we have no control over like stopping aliens attacking the Earth, or preventing gravity, or hoping George Lucas doesn’t further ruin the Star Wars franchise.

If we don’t think we can control something, we put our faith into something else we think can control things for us like an organization, a political party.  Or the biggest one… money.

But none of this is real power or real control.

None of this gives us what we’re really looking for when things are out of control…

…and what we’re looking for is peace.

For us, we obviously should be placing our faith in God – the one who is ultimately in control and not in something that has just a little more control than we do.

So what do we do?

There’s four things we need to do in our search for peace when things are out of control.

1.  We need to understand ourselves.  We need to know that we are not in control.  We are small and sinful.  The knowledge that we need help is called humility.

2.  We need to understand God.  We need to know that not only is God is in control because he is all powerful, but that he loves us.  And this all powerful love is unstoppable.  (I personally find that concept very calming).

3.  Connect the two, your humility and God’s power to put your faith in him.  Your faith should have two parts…

a. Faith in his love – that what he’s doing is for your good.

b.  Faith in his wisdom – that his plan, though different from yours, is the right way.  Yeah, you’d rather have millions of dollars or a stable job, but that’s your plan to find some type of peace, but maybe God has a different and better plan for you to find real peace.

And when we have faith in God like this, it frees us up to do the last part…

4.  We need to play our part.  When we know God has a plan for us, and that plan is out of love, it frees us up to do what he has called us as individuals to do.

Maybe you can’t control the economy, but you can still be a good steward with what God has given you.

Maybe you can’t control what your family does, but maybe God wants you to play a part by showing love in some way.

Instead of being frozen in fear of what we can’t control, putting our faith in God frees us allowing us to focus on what part God wants us to play -rather than the outcome.

God can win the game without us, but he wants us to be on the field.  Just play the position He wants you to play and He’ll take care of the rest. The game is already won.

It can give you peace, like… I’m doing my part and the rest is in God’s hands and He’ll win the game.

It should also give us humility because since God is in control and all powerful, he doesn’t really need us, which means He wants to use us.  He wants us to be apart of His work, which is truly a great blessing and something to be thankful for.

Knowing that you are not in control, but God is, gives us peace that the game will be won and makes us thankful that He still wants us involved.

So have peace – he’s got it under control.

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1 Cor 3:7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

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2 Cor 12[9] But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. [10] That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Take Time to Pray: Ask God to help you understand your limitations and weaknesses so that you can rely on His power instead.

Today’s Fruit of the Spirit: Peace