Knowing That God Is In Control

I live in an area where winters are harsh and seemingly long.  Yesterday we received 17 inches of new snow from a storm and many people are still shoveling and plowing.  I came home early from work to clear some snow off of my roof.  I used a snow rake because I am not a fan of heights or of falling and injuring myself.

The snow was rather deep in the front of my house so I thought the best solution was to wear my snowshoes and make a trail so I wouldn't sink in the deep snow as I raked my roof.  There I was dressed in multiple layers of winter gear and wearing my snowshoes while holding onto my extra long roof rake clearing the snow off of the roof.

If you have ever snowshoed you know very well how easy it is to fall down if you aren't careful.  I tripped and fell into the deep snow.  I had a hard time getting back up ( after I finished laughing).  I needed a good laugh.  Thankfully I planned ahead somewhat and left my snowshoe poles sticking up in the snow for easy access.

(Allow me to pause my story a bit and tell you about my snowshoes.  I purchased these brand new snowshoes a few months ago for a Christmas present to myself.  I used them for the for the first time on Monday.  During that snowshoe adventure I discovered that one of the telescoping poles that came with the snowshoes kept collapsing if I applied too much weight on it.  It really didn't bother me at the time, but I was kind of discouraged because one of the poles didn't work like it should.)

So, there I was laying in the snow trying to get myself back up which can be rather challenging when you are wearing several layers of winter clothing and wearing snowshoes.  Eventually I managed to get onto my side and I was close enough to grab one of my poles and I thought, "Great, I got this!"
You can probably guess which pole I grabbed to try to help myself back up on my feet.  Yes, you guessed correctly.  I grabbed the broken pole that collapses on itself and I gently went back onto my back into the deep snow as the pole collapsed.  It seemed like slow motion. I was laughing again as I laid there in the snow looking up into the sky.

That is when I started thinking about how sometimes we think that we are in control of things even though we have no control at all.  We like to think we have control over our lives, but we really don't.  We try to control things and do things our way, but we still aren't in control.

There is only One that is in control and that is the Lord our God.  God is in control of all things and sometimes that is a hard concept for many to fathom, but it true.  We don't always understand why God allows certain things to occur, but we can know that the Lord will work it out for good in accordance to his perfect will.

The Lord wants us to trust Him with everything in our lives.  He doesn't want us running around in a state of fear and anxiety as many of us do sometimes.  The Lord wants us to realize that He is the One that has the answers and He is the One that we have to answer to.

The Lord loves us and He is not out to harm us, thankfully.  God demonstrated His love for each of us by sending His One and only Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to die for sinners such as you and I.  The Lord made a way for us to have forgiveness of our sins and He made a way for us to have a home in Heaven.  There is only one way to obtain forgiveness of our sins and have a home in Heaven and that is by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary death on the Cross for us.

God is so good and He loves you and I so very much.  The question remains, "Do you love Him?"
He wants to have a relationship with you and that is available to you by placing your faith in Jesus Christ.  We must come to the point where we admit we are sinners and can't save ourselves.  Then we must place our faith in Jesus Christ and make Him our Lord and Savior.

I am thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ saving a wretched man such as myself.  I am thankful that the Lord is always with me even when I fall flat on my back in the deep snow of Northern Maine.  Oh by the way, I was able to reach the working snowshoe pole and I was able to get back up on my feet.  I was also able to clear the snow off of the front part of the house.  The other side can wait until another day and hopefully I will be able to stay on my feet next time.

No matter what we are going through in life we can be thankful that God is in control and we can trust Him with every detail of our life.  The Lord will lead us and direct our steps if we just trust Him.

Lord, Heavenly Father,
We praise Your Holy Name!
Thank You that You are in control.
Thank You for Your great love.
Lead us and guide us closer to You.
Empower us to love those around us and share the Good News of Jesus Christ with them.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.