In Control

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him. (Colossians 1:15-22 ESV). Recently I was reminded of my days as a Student Director on a college campus. One of my duties there was to teach college level religion classes. I remember one semester of “The Life and Times of the Apostle Paul” as we came to Ephesians I wanted to illustrate the concept of grace. I gave the class a quiz in which I asked them to write their thoughts about the subject in 100 words. They had the entire period to compose their essay. As the period drew to a close and I received the papers, I asked the class to remain for a moment. Without reading a single paper I tore them all in half and threw them in the trash. Then I announced that everyone present that day would receive an “A” on the quiz. I then explained that was how God gave us his grace. No matter how hard we try, we can’t earn it. He just gives it! It was amazing to see their reaction. Some thought it was a joke. Others couldn’t believe that I would do that. It is human nature to want to earn our way. We want to be even. We don’t want to owe anyone anything. I paid for another person’s lunch the other day. He wasn’t with me, just in the same restaurant. After lunch he called me and offered to pay me for his meal. He was angry that I had paid for his lunch! I simply said that if he needed to spend that money he should go give it to a charity, his lunch was already paid for. We all have a lot of bills with God. We can't pay those either. We want to control everything. It's the adult child syndrome. We're big into control. Did you hear about the man in India who was making a trip across the entirety of the nation? Everything he owned was in a suitcase. He put the suitcase in a rack on the train above where he was sitting and he put his eyes on the suite case because everything he owned was in the suite case and he knew there were thieves on the train. It was two o'clock in the morning when he simply couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. For just a few seconds he drifted off and when he opened his eyes, the suite case was gone. He then said out loud, "Thank God, now I can go to sleep." You don't control anything. You're not big enough. The powers are far beyond you. Now isn't that a relief? You can go to sleep. God is in charge.