Everything's Under Control

I think we all have days when we think, Am I really strong enough to keep going? God, are you really going to take care of this?

During these times, I love to ponder Hebrews 1:3 (AMP) and remind myself who’s holding everything up. Look at what it says:

The Son is the radiance and only expression of the glory of [our awesome] God...upholding and maintaining and propelling all things [the entire physical and spiritual universe] by His powerful word [carrying the universe along to its predetermined goal]....

Wow, I love this! God upholds and maintains and propels all things. Just think: What keeps the sun and the stars in the sky? What keeps the earth rotating on its axis? What keeps the ocean from going further than the sand? It’s Almighty God, and we can trust Him to hold us up!

If you have a problem right now, and you feel like you’re about to cave in, begin saying, “God, I trust You to hold me up.” Then remind yourself that you don’t have it make it on your own...you have the God of the universe to support you.

I want to look at another important part of this verse. How does it say God upholds, maintains and propels all things? By “His powerful Word.” He speaks it!

The great thing about the Word is that we can also speak it over our lives—we can be a mouthpiece for God and say what He says. For instance, when I wake up in the morning, I begin declaring good things from His Word over my day. I say things like:

“Everything I lay my hand to today is going to prosper” (see Deuteronomy 30:9) and “God orders my steps and He has a great plan for my day!” (see Psalm 37:23; Jeremiah 29:11)

I think it’s so easy to forget just how awesome God really is. For instance, several years ago, I asked the Lord, “Why don’t I have exciting, special things happen in my life anymore?”

God spoke to my heart and said, “Joyce, I still do those things all the time. You have just gotten used to it.”

This answer surprised me! And I realized how important it is to remind ourselves of God’s majesty, goodness and never-ending ability to help us.

You see, God wants us to live amazed by His goodness in our lives...to actively take notice of the truly wonderful things He does for us. Why? Because when we live amazed, we will never be without hope! Let’s look at the story of Abraham...

God had blessed Abraham abundantly. However, there was one thing that he and his wife, Sarah, didn’t have—a child. Abraham said, ...Lord God, what can You give me, since I am going on [from this world] childless...?

And He [God] brought him outside [his tent into the starlight] and said, Look now toward the heavens and count the stars—if you are able to number them. Then he said to him, So shall your descendants be (Genesis 15:2, 5 AMP).

Although Abraham’s circumstances looked overwhelming, the Lord brought him out of his tent to amaze him and remind him that He can do the impossible.

I believe we can all spend too much time “in our tent,” looking at our own problems. That’s why the Bible says to look away from all that will distract unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Every time we decide to pray, read His Word or simply dwell on the great things He has done for us in the past, it produces hope. And, like Abraham, we soon begin thinking, Wow, maybe He can do this for me!

The next time you have the opportunity, take a few moments to walk outside and look up at the evening sky. Stare at the stars and just imagine what kind of power and ability it takes to keep everything in our massive, almost inexhaustible universe working perfectly.

Then ponder this: If God, through His Word, can do all of this, He can also hold you up and orchestrate and direct every single detail of your life.