When confusion overwhelms,

When financial ruin seems inevitable,

When betrayal defeats us,

When stress overpowers our peace,

When bad memories assail us,

When panic scatters our well-being,

When unbelief smothers our hope,

When we discover that what we “own,” owns us,

When we realize the logical way is the wrong way…

It’s time to scrap the “whens” and recognize God’s sovereignty.

God’s sovereignty is the loom that weaves his divine influence into every circumstance of life.

BELIEVE HIM. REST. LISTEN TO HIS WORD. HE IS IN CONTROL.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Peace! Be still!

“And he [Jesus] awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. . . . And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:39-41)

God controls events that appear to be random:

“The lot is cast into the lap, but [the lot’s] every decision is from the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:33)

Jesus involves himself in our future:

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit’—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring… Instead you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.’” (James 4:13-15)

God interferes in our decisions:

“Then God said to him [Abimelech] in the dream, ‘Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me…” (Gen. 20:6)

He predetermines who we will become:

Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psa. 139:16)

God even controls those whom we elect to lead us:

“The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will” (Proverbs 21:1)

“But I’ve brought these personal “whens” on myself! I don’t deserve mercy…”

Yup. You’re right. But GOD IS SOVEREIGN. Stop looking for mercy. You’re standing in it!

For he says… (to Moses [who murdered the Egyptian) “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” (Romans 9:15)

Sweep away the “whens” and know that every thread in the fabric of your life belongs to God. Take heart!

“His mercy endures forever.”