Is my God in control or not?

Often the troubles in our lives and the changing circumstances around us that affects us can bring to our minds and hearts the consideration of whether God is in control or not?
The Bible teaches of a Sovereign God who reigns as King and whose will is done, the prayer which Jesus teaches His disciples to pray speaks of asking God for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) – this is somewhat risky because we don’t always know what is the will that God has for a situation in heaven, it is known by God alone. But the fact that God is a God who loves and has our best at heart means that we can trust in Him even when circumstances turn against us.
As a person you are more than a random chance of reproduction, rather you are known by God and fearfully and wonderfully made through Christ, who is the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, this is far before you were conceived or born. God’s will in heaven is that you would know Him and know the life and faith that He can give to those who would believe in Jesus Christ.
Can you still trust the Lord even when things don’t seem to be going well, whether materially, or if your harvest fails or the rain washes away your seed? Consider the prophet Habakkuk declares that even though everything around him is failing, he will ‘rejoice in the LORD’ and ‘be joyful in God’ because God is his Saviour (Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV). Trusting in the Lord as ‘Sovereign’ gave him strength and put power in his feet beyond his own ability to keep going - to rising to heights of real faith and he continued the difficult path upon which he had found himself, which to the world around him would have seen as complete failure and that he may have even been cursed, it looked like God had abandoned him, but the Lord was in control of the events of his life and he believed it, and was able to say such a prayer of faith which became a song to be sung.
Why do we so often doubt that God is in control? May be it is because we don’t consider God’s rule when things are ok and we are prospering. We need a God who is Lord of the good days and the bad days as well, a God of the day and of the night.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, November 2009.