How Much Control Does God Have?
The Bible teaches us that everything was created by God and is under His controlling power. Not only is He powerful, but He is ALL-Powerful. There is not one created being that is more powerful than God.
We can live not only knowing that God wants the best for our lives but also that He has the power to do it! When we remember this daily we are going to put our trust in Him.
How do I know that God is more powerful than anything or anyone in my life?
God's power can be seen in His control over the animals.
Let's look at Johah 1:17 together,
Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The Lord prepared a whale to swallow Jonah? Think about this for a minute! The great fish was prepared by God to swallow Jonah. If you look at the Hebrew translation for the word "prepared" you will find the word "mânâh" which means by implication to "allot or constitute officially". This fish was officially chosen by God!
If you look at Genesis 1:21-23 you will find that God created all of the animals on the fifth day. God not only has the power to create but also the power to control.
Genesis 1:21-23 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
What two things did God tell the great fish to do? Let's read Jonah 1:17 and Jonah 2:10,
Jonah 1:17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Jonah 2:10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.
God told the fish to do two things. He told it to swallow Jonah and told the fish to vomit Jonah out. I know that sounds kind of crude but it is the truth. The fish did as it was told to do. God didn't have to go around looking for a creature that would obey or that would agree to do it as God wanted it done! The animals are under the power of God. Some people get confused these days and feel that nature is God but it is all under God according to the Bible.
God can do what man cannot! Most of the time the fish gets the majority of the attention in this story when it really is about the great power of God in the life of Jonah. The fish do as God tells them to do. If we were just as obedient as the fish to our Creator we might just be amazed at how God would use our obedience to impact the people around us today.
God's power can be seen in His control of the sea. Let's read Jonah 2:3-6,
Jonah 2:3-6 For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. 4 Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. 5 The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. 6 I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God.
What is the possessive personal pronoun found before the words "billows" and "waves"? It says, "thy" billows and "thy" waves. This is Jonah speaking to God here in this verse. Who alone has the power to create an ocean? God does!
A number of times in the Scriptures we see the great power of God as He calms, controls or creates storms at sea. Let's look at Mark 4:36-41,
Mark 4:36-41 And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 39 And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41 And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
What did His disciples say in verse 41 about Jesus after He calmed the storm? They said, "What manner of man is this that even the wind and sea obey Him?".
God's power can be seen in His control of Life. In Jonah 2:2 and Jonah 2:6 Jonah was about to die. He was praying from what he felt sure was his grave inside the fish. Then in verse four Jonah said, "I will look again toward thy holy temple". It was like God gave Jonah hope that he would live through this situation that seemed so hopeless. God created life and has control over life as we know it on this earth. Have you thanked God for being alive lately? Who does it refer to in Psalm 145:20 when it talks about God's preserving people? Let's read it,
Psalm 145:20 The LORD preserves all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
Every day we are alive can be considered a gift from the Lord. God's protective power preserves life and just as God had a special assignment for Jonah (and kept him alive), he has a special assignment for you to do also.
God's power can be seen in a changed life. Jonah got it! He has learned that everything is created and controlled by the power of God! Look at Jonah 2:9 and let's see what the last phrase in this verse,
Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
Can any man control what happens after he dies without the salvation of God? God saved Jonah from the sea and He can save you from from the things that are keeping your life out of control. Let God fill you with new life and He will take control of the troubles you have as well. We can fully trust in God when others fail us. He will help you to forgive other or yourself and move forward in life when tribulations and disapointments come your way.
God already knows about it, so turn it over to Him and rest in His refuge of protection today!
I exhort YOU today my friends, as the psalmist David did in chapter sixty-two of the book of Psalms,
"Pour out your heart before God!"
Psalm 62:6-8
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved. 7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God. 8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
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