Under God’s Control

Under God’s Control

Job 38.3-11

3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone- 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels [a] shouted for joy? 8 "Who shut up the sea behind doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I fixed limits for it and set its doors and bars in place, 11 when I said, 'This far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt'?

There’s a lot of talk about the various “doomsday scenarios” these days. Global warming, terrorism, nuclear wars, widespread pandemics, earthquakes, and the list goes on. We are told that it is only a matter of time, be it 2012 or some impending date, that we are all goners. This is a very frightening fear tactic used by Satan to make people act out of emotion and panic instead of logic and common sense. When Satan employs fear, he can strike at us through our temporary vulnerability. While our fears are not necessarily doomsday scenarios, we must admit there are things we worry about. Perhaps it’s how we’ll meet the bills, how we’ll find a job, how we’ll deal with that troubled loved one in our lives. It is in times like these that we must calm ourselves and rely on this simple but steady premise: God is in control of everything.

He shows us the earth is under His control here in Job 38. He explains to Job that He “laid the earth’s foundation,” he “marked off its dimensions”, he “fixed limits for [the sea] and set its doors and bars in place.” Beloved, if God cared enough to setup the earth, and if He controls nature, what makes you think He cannot handle any scenario we face? Only illogical, emotionally-driven fear by the devil would make us believe otherwise. We must remember that our problems are under His control. There is nothing God cannot handle. He and He alone can tell the ocean and tell our problems that “[t]his far you may come and no farther; here is where your proud waves halt.”

In times of trouble and worry and doubt, remember God controls it all. The whole universe is His symphony, wonderfully composed. There are those who would play the foul notes and attempt to ruin God’s plan, but He has already figured out a solution ahead of time. Just as the Father sent Christ as the redemption of Israel and the world, so too does He have plans for us when things go wrong. Remember this as you go throughout your day. Amen.

With love in Christ,



Austin Aldrich