Who's in charge here??

Have you ever felt like life wasn’t going the way you wanted? Maybe it was a bad day... or week... or year? You didn’t get the job... or the guy… or the fairy tale life most of us dreamed of as a child. Or perhaps it was an event that changed the trajectory for you and your family. You received the diagnosis... the phone call... the papers.You had your plan, yet somehow God didn’t execute your well thought out strategy. I’ve been there a lot recently. Prayers still unanswered after years of asking. Prayers of shorter duration that seemed like they’d be effortless for God to answer. (“God, this is a softball. If You do this, I know my child will see Your goodness.”) Things I assumed were “Yes’s” that turned out to be “No’s.” You’ve been there, right?Often during painful times, I come back to 2 Corinthians 4:8-9.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

If you’re a child of God, these two verses are like an IV that feeds hope and resilience into our ever-weary souls.But make sure you don’t miss the verse before our lifeline.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.(2 Corinthians 4:7)

The treasure Paul speaks of is the greatness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are the fragile, imperfect jars of clay.And why did God put His power in us? To show that the surpassing power belongs to Him and not us.I realize I’m just retyping the verse there, but do you see it?How easy it is for us to forget what the purpose of this thing called life is really about! We don’t walk this earth for God to solve our problems and simplify our day. Paul wasn't writing this because he couldn’t pay bills or because he was struggling in his parenting. He was suffering for boldly proclaiming Christ. In the midst of this God-honoring suffering, he reminds us that we are fragile and imperfect, but God uses this to help the world see something beautiful. The frailty of who we are is a neon sign that the power belongs to God.[bctt tweet="The frailty of who we are is a neon sign that the power belongs to God."]Our time here is about Him… not us.He is in charge… not us.He writes the last chapter… not us.He has the power… not us.He is worthy of praise… not us.May we each live in such a way that we help the world see clearly that all power belongs to God.