God is in control

  • One Step Between Me and Death

    “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you.” Isaiah 26:3

    God’s Perfect Peace

    Have you ever faced a moment when you believed your death was imminent- just a step away? My dear friend, Charleen, had three days to prepare for what she believed would be the end of her life.

    Her countless years of dwelling with the Lord allowed her to spend those three days in perfect peace. Knowing God, reflecting on His faithfulness, and clinging to the promises found in His Word brought forth calmness instead of fear. She trusted His will- even if it meant her life would soon end.

    When fear and anxiety could have easily wreaked havoc, she chose to trust and hope instead. And she used those three days to continue a legacy she started- making sure it would endure even in her absence. Every week for several years she sent her grandchildren a Scripture verse or truth from Scripture for them to consider. She didn’t want this “ministry” to end. So, she spent what she believed would be her final days filling tablets of Bible verses for her husband to send their grandchildren every week.

    Only a Step

    Excerpt from Rest a While by Fredrik Wisloff:

    “Only a step. We attach but little importance to a step.  Every day we take countless steps that are unnecessary.  A step requires such small effort that we think nothing of it.  And yet, there is but a short step between me and the unknown called death.  In view of this, what folly to live with unforgiven sins!  Within a few minutes I may find myself standing before the throne of God. Since there is but a step between me and death, there must never be a step between me and Jesus.  I must live my life with Him and in Him – never separated from Him.  Every day must be lived in the light of the accounting which I shall have to face in eternity.  I must not set foot in any place from which I cannot joyfully take the next step into eternity.”

    Charleen’s Story

    There was a moment in my story with God when I thought there was “But a step between me and death.”

    On Valentine’s Day, 2022 I woke up in a hospital room.  I was surprised- as I expected to wake up in heaven.  I was prepared to wake up in heaven. Three days earlier I was diagnosed with a golf-ball sized tumor in the right ventricle of my brain. 

    As I laid in the hospital bed after surgery, I didn’t open my eyes.  I could hear the hustle and bustle of a hospital room.  Nurses were so attentive and gentle.  I didn’t open my eyes because I didn’t want them to know I was awake yet.  I needed some time to grasp the fact that I lived- I was ALIVE! I needed time alone to process this reality with my Savior.

    Tears flowed down my cheeks as I praised my Lord.  I didn’t have to leave my beloved husband and family.  I could think clearly, and my body seemed normal.  God had graciously granted me more time on earth and guided a skilled doctor as he cut through my brain to remove the tumor.

    I finally opened my eyes and greeted the world.  For three days following my diagnosis, I had prayed earnestly that God’s will would be done and that He would take care of my loved ones.  I don’t know why but I never prayed that He would let me live.  I only wanted God’s will. 

    It has now been two years and I have finally figured out why I didn’t ask the Lord to let me live.  I was not sure what life would look like after invasive brain surgery and I was overwhelmed. But I had total peace that God would know and do best, no matter what.  He would take care of my family.  Surprisingly, I slept well those three nights before surgery and counted my blessings.

    Mind Stayed on God

    Isaiah 26:3 ‘’You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”

    In a culture filled with lies and deceptions, I can assuredly say this verse is true- I have been there.

    -Charleen Bichel-

    What about you? Have you ever faced something that should rationally cause fear, yet experienced God’s perfect peace that surpassed all understanding? We’d love to hear your story too!

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  • You Don’t Hold All Things Together…. Jesus Does

    Glenna Marshall

    The Failure of Self-sufficiency

    I am one of those people you might call “Type A.” Driven, busy, a self-starter. I almost feel guilty if I’m not being productive. I know a lot of women who fit that description. We keep our plates full because we struggle to believe things can go on without us. Self-sufficiency is something I’ve long subscribed to. I don’t like to ask for help. I don’t want to be needy. I don’t like to feel that parts of my life are out of my control. I’ve lived a lot of my adult years with a white-knuckled grip of control that seemed to perpetually slip through my fingers. But self-sufficiency failed me when the hopes I had for my life dissipated beneath the crushing weight of things like infertility, chronic illness, and loneliness. Oddly enough, it was the loss of control in my life that led to a deeper relationship with the Lord.  

    The Illusion of Control

    As a pastor’s wife and a speaker who travels the country to teach at women’s conferences and retreats, I’ve realized that many women struggle with fear of lost control. It comes out in different ways: grief, anger, anxiety, doubt. But we all desire to hold on to the one thing that we can’t: control. And that’s because we were never meant to. We can wear all the hats, keep all the plates spinning, check all the to-do lists, and consider ourselves the glue that holds our families together (which may, in fact, feel very true to both our families and us). But in the end, control is an illusion, and blessedly so. For we serve a God that truly holds all things together.

    The One Holding All Things Together

    In Colossians 1, Paul describes Jesus in a way that leaves you without a doubt about His superiority over all things. Not only was the universe created through Christ, but it is also in Him that all things hold together (see Col. 1:17). The author of Hebrews words it similarly: “He upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Heb. 1:3). Both writers are saying the same thing: Jesus is holding the universe in place. Nothing is happening outside of His control.

    There’s not a planet or star out of bounds. There’s not a cell in your body that’s beyond the authority of Christ. This should be a comfort to us control freaks! We don’t have it in us to control the weather or the rotations and revolutions of the planets. But Jesus does. We don’t have it in us to dictate precisely how our days should go or to write the story of our lives exactly as we think they should be written. But Jesus does. And He is. He has. He is holding all things together. The universe itself is upheld by the word of His power. That means there is nothing in our lives that is beyond the bounds of His knowledge, control, and care.

    The Savior Who Intercedes

    So, if He allows challenges, suffering, trials, we can trust Him with those things. None of them are spinning outside of the control of the One who made us, died for us, and is currently sitting at the right hand of the Father interceding for us (see Heb. 7:25). That’s right: Jesus is praying for you. If nothing is outside of His control and if He is praying for you, then why do you need to grasp for control or feel anxious about your current circumstances?

    I used to think being self-sufficient was a good thing, but it’s not if it robs me of my trust in my Savior who is upholding the entire created universe. The thing is, He’s in control whether I acknowledge it or not. So, all the worry and fear about what might happen or what could happen? A complete waste of time.

    I don’t know about you, but my desire to call all the shots (and my subsequent failure thereof) unearthed a very anemic view of Jesus in my heart. Those years of feeling calm when things went according to plan and frazzled when they didn’t were also the years when I neglected my Bible the most. But when the pregnancy test wouldn’t turn positive, when the doctors couldn’t fix me, when friendships were hard to find, when chronic illness became a lifestyle—well, my self-sufficiency came to a decisive end. I realized that any control I thought I had over my life and family was an illusion that faded with my inability to mold the future according to my desires.

    The God Who Is Trustworthy

    I had nowhere to turn. So I turned to my Bible. I began reading the book of Isaiah and wrote down whatever the text told me about God’s character. I filled a spiral notebook. Then I moved to the gospel of John and did the same. Then Exodus. Then Psalms. The years passed and the spiral notebooks stacked up. And my view of the capable God who loves me and sent His Son to die for me expanded and grew. My grip on the illusion of control weakened. And for the first time in my adult life, I learned to trust God with my trials. With His “no’s” to certain prayers. With my suffering. With the hard days when I didn’t know what to do. With the nights that were full of pain or fear. I learned that He is both sovereign and good, and that if I can trust Him to keep the planets in their places, I can trust Him to work all things for good in my life.

    If you’re struggling today with the fear of lost control, let me help you loosen your grip a little. Jesus is holding all things together. And He’s really good at it.

    Open your Bible today. Start reading a little each day and jotting down what you learn about Him. The more you know Him, the more you’ll trust Him. He’s holding all things together.

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