Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

God’s Control

(?)

DAWSON TROTMAN, founder of the Navigators, an organization discipling and mentoring ministry leaders around the world, drowned while saving a swimmer from certain death. Eyewitnesses tell of the tears and helpless disbelief in the faces of those who now looked out across the deep blue water of Schroon Lake. Everyone’s face except one—Lila Trotman. Dawson’s widow. As she arrived a close friend shouted, “Oh, Lila, he’s gone. Dawson’s gone!” She replied in calm assurance the words of Psalm 115:3:

Our God is in the heavens,

and he does as he wishes.

Does the young widow’s response seem strange? Honestly, do you think God’s control over us is total . . . or partial? His Word speaks on this deep subject:

What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. . . . Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, “Stop, you’re doing it wrong!”

ISAIAH 45:9

I am God, and there is none like me. . . . Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.

ISAIAH 46:9–10

Patiently, repeatedly, God’s Word makes the point. Accept it or not, God’s calling the shots. Either He’s in full control, or He’s off His throne.

It was a glorious day when I realized that nobody expected me to have all the answers . . . least of all God. If I could figure it all out, I’d qualify as His adviser, and Scripture makes it clear He doesn’t need my short-sighted, insignificant counsel. He wants my unreserved love, my unqualified devotion, my undaunted trust—not my feeble analysis of His ways . . . and certainly not my approval!

One of the marks of spiritual maturity is the quiet confidence that God is in control . . . without the need to understand why He does what He does. Lila Trotman bore such a mark as she faced the unsearchable ways of God. What do you need to place in His hands?