He is in control....

Today as I did my devotions, I was overwhelmed by the need to keep my eyes on Jesus in these troubled times. Yesterday, I spent a great deal of time watching FX news with the predictions of the fall out with the market, the lending institutions that are in trouble, and the response of people every where. It can be very dismal when we look at the world around us. When we look at our portfolio or watch the news, we can't help but feel that we are destined for destruction. On one of the morning news programs they interviewed people who were being affected physically by what was going on in our world.

I can't help but think that maybe what needs to be done is focus less on what the news is saying and spend some time in the only place that we can find peace...God's Word. I am not going to say that if you spend time in God's Word that the crisis that is upon us will disappear but it is only through Him that we are able to find and know a peace in the midst of trials. In Matthew it says that we shouldn't worry, but to seek first God's kingdom. In Joel, our peace is only found in the Father. In Ephesians, Christ is called "our Peace." The Psalms are filled with situations that were horrible but the psalmists tried to remember where they should find the peace that they desired so greatly. If what we are seeking is a peace that passes human understanding then we can find that in no other place or person than Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12 tells us to throw off everything that hinders us and run the race set out before us. There are times when we do not even realize that what we are wrapped in will trip us up. What seems harmless and fun has crippled us and kept us from running the race.

Today if you are focused on the TV and news programs, turn them off and "fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith." We need to be alert as to what we are listening to and remember who is greater.

I was reading a devotional by Cynthia Heald and she reminded me of the control and the power of God. She said, think of the nature and all of the power that we see in the hurricanes, the volcanoes, the storms, the tornado, and then remember, it is He who created them and He is more powerful then the most powerful storm or natural disaster than we can think of. He holds the universe in His hand and has control over the planets' rotations. He spoke and the very universe and all that we know of it came into being...He is the One who is in control.

So in these days of troubled times, when everything seems to be falling apart all around us, we need to remember that God, the creator and keeper of the universe, the Father who sent His Son for us, and the all-powerful, all-present God is in control.