Control…
If the coronavirus has reinforced one reality for everyone under the sun it is that WE are not in control. Even those who hold positions of great power and authority have no control over this invisible invader. The disruptions caused are not isolated to one sector.
Patients with COVID19, their families, doctors and nurses, hospital administrators, public officials and those who work in the public health sector, pastors of local churches, heads of industry and heads and heads of state, the commissioners of major sporting leagues, colleges and universities…those who were just weeks ago living with a sense of relative control are now sidelined – long range plans trashed and short term plans — well there aren’t any. And when you can’t even make a plan beyond the day you’re living, your sense of control is radically reduced.
But control was always an illusion.
We actually control very little.
God grants us dominion but God retains control.
We have never been nor were we ever meant to be, more than stewards of God’s marvelous grace.
Turn to First Chronicles 29 and consider the words of King David at the end of his life. The reign of Solomon and the rebuilding of God’s Temple are in view. The mighty King, David, recognizes his own limitations and the unlimited nature of God.
The Temple is for God and the glory – the people and the nation are God’s – and their worship is directed away from David to the Lord.
David experienced all the worldly trappings of power, authority, and wealth and yet he knew, he knew, that he controlled nothing – and that the only safe and secure place to live was in and with the Lord, now and forevermore. He led his people to worship God and he entrusted his son and the future of the nation he loved to God alone.
Take and read, First Chronicles 29, beginning at verse 10:
10 Therefore David blessed the Lord in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. 12 Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 13 And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. 15 For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding.[e] 16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own. 17 I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness. In the uprightness of my heart I have freely offered all these things, and now I have seen your people, who are present here, offering freely and joyously to you. 18 O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, keep forever such purposes and thoughts in the hearts of your people, and direct their hearts toward you. 19 Grant to Solomon my son a whole heart that he may keep your commandments, your testimonies, and your statutes, performing all, and that he may build the palace for which I have made provision.”
20 Then David said to all the assembly, “Bless the Lord your God.” And all the assembly blessed the Lord…
Carmen’s conversations in this episode include Bill English and the topic of leadership in times of crisis and Norm Mintle s...
