God is Still In Control

God Still Is In Control

I.  Introduction:  Who we are briefly.  Just answering God’s call.

   Scripture 1 Kings 19:9-16

II.  Gary and Regina Potter are here.  They are wonderful friends to us and I thank God for them.  One day Mary and I were over at their house and Gary asked if we wanted to go 4-wheeling (Mary’s not here so I can tell this story) We went out across the lake bed where they live and Gary and I got ahead of Mary. We went over this little rise and Gary looked back and saw Mary wasn’t behind us.  So we turned around and went to look for her.  We found her the other side of the rise, laying on the ground with the 4 wheeler on top of her.  She was laying there laughing but embarrassed.  Thank God she wasn’t hurt.  She had hit a deep pile of loose sand, lost control, and flipped over.

That is a lot like we all do, everything is going fine when suddenly something comes along and suddenly we find ourselves deep in the sands of depression and worry with what feels like the weight of the world on top of us.  So what do we do, we start our own little pity party, just like Elijah did in the scripture.

III.  Even though God had done some amazing things thru Elijah so far

        (1 Kings 17:1) Caused the rain to cease for 3 ½ years.

        (1 Kings 17:4) Being fed by the ravens

        (1 Kings 17:14) The miracle of the barrel of flour and cruse of oil

         (1 Kings 17: 22) The very first resurrection in scripture of the

                           Widow’s son

         (1 Kings 18:38) Calling fire down from heaven on the alter

         (1 Kings 18:45) Causing it to rain

Even after all that, when the going got tough even Elijah got depressed and worried.  Started whining:

  Oh God, I’m all by myself serving you.  Why have you put me in this situation.  What am I going to do?

Sound Familiar??????  :

 Oh God, we’re doing what you want us to do, but look at all the problems I’ve got.  I’ve got bills due I can’t pay.  My car broke down and I can’t get it fixed.  The roof is leaking.  The kids need new clothes for school.  I can’t buy that new bass boat that I really need so bad!!!  Oh what am I going to do?

We let it get us down so we end up all worried and depressed.

What does God tell us about worry and depression? Scripture tells us these are sins.

GOD IS IN CONTROL. 

Let’s look at what God did when Elijah got all depressed. Did God say “Oh I understand and I’m so sorry you have to go thru this.  Just wait, it’ll get better” NO starting in verse 14 (read 14,15,16)

God said get up off your duff and get busy.  I got things I need you to do.  The same applies to us as individuals and as the body of Christ.  When something bad happens, we can’t sit around and have a group pity party.  The devil tries to get us bogged down and get so wrapped up in our emotions that we lose track of whose in control.

  We need to pull ourselves together, get up and start doing what God wants us to do.  Remember   GOD IS IN CONTROL. 

IV. You may ask: How do we know God is in control of this?

When you need an answer go to the source: God’s word.

(I’m not going to read all of these for time’s sake, so you might want to write them down to look up later)

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning GOD created the heaven and the earth.

1 Samuel 2:6-9  The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.  He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them.  He will keep the feet of His saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14

Psalms 75:6-7

Psalms 107

Proverbs 16:4 The Lord hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Isaiah 45:4-9

Isaiah 66:1-2

Lamentations 3:38-41

Matthew 6:9-14

Acts 17:24-28

Romans 1:11-23

Romans 8:23-39

Romans 9:15-23

1 Corinthians 1:25-31

Ephesians 1:11-12

Colossians 1:13-17

James 4:6-10

And last but not least Revelations 4:11 Thou are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things,, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

V.   Now do you get the idea that God gave us all these scriptures and more that I didn’t mention to show is HE IS IN CONTROL. There is a great song that I think says it all:

 “For God on the mountain is still God in the valley

   When things go wrong He’ll make them right

    And the God of the good times, is still God in the bad times

    And the God of the day is still God in the night”

We need to just turn it all over to Him.  No matter what.

VI.  If you are here today and maybe never accepted Christ as your Savior.  You need to begin by turning your whole life over to Him.  All those fears and doubts you have, just lay them at Jesus feet. If you are here and a Christian, but maybe you are struggling with something in your life that is causing you to be depressed or worried.  Maybe it something financial, maybe it’s something in your marriage, maybe it’s a problem at your work, or a spiritual problem that is hindering your closeness with God.  You need to understand that GOD IS STILL ON THE THRONE AND IN CONTROL.  No matter what it is—NOTHING IS TOO BIG FOR OUR GOD.  God promises in His word: “Come unto me, all ye that are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Now is the day to start letting God BE IN CONTROL of your life.  He is in control of it all, let Him control your life.  Every head down…