The Concept of Divine Control

The following is the July 16th entry in Oswald Chamber's Devotional:

“…how much more will your Father who is in Heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Matthew 7:11

Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct in this passage for those people who have His Spirit. He urges us to keep our minds filled with the concept of God’s control over everything, which means that a disciple must maintain an attitude of perfect trust and an eagerness to ask and to seek.

Fill your mind with the thought that God is there. And once your mind is truly filled with that thought, when you experience difficulties it will be as easy as breathing for you to remember, “My Heavenly Father know all about this!” This will be no effort at all, but will be a natural thing for you when difficulties and uncertainties arise. Before you formed this concept of divine control so powerfully in your mind, you used to go from person to person seeking help, but now you go to God about it. Jesus is laying down the rules of conduct for those people who have His Spirit, and it works on the following principle--God is my Father, He loves me, and I will never think of anything that he will forget, so why should I worry?

Jesus said there are times when God cannot lift the darkness from you, but you should trust Him. At times God will appear like an unkind friend, but He is not; he will appear like an unnatural father, but He is not; He will appear like an unjust judge, but He is not. Keep the thought that the mind of God is behind all things strong and growing. Not even the smallest detail of life happens unless God’s will is behind it. Therefore, you can rest in perfect confidence in Him. Prayer is not only asking, but is an attitude of the mind which produces the atmosphere in which asking is perfectly natural. “Ask, and it will be given to you…”

I wanted to share this devotional with you because the Lord spoke directly to my worries about our adoption of Christina and all that must be done to bring her home! I just want to love her and hold her, but for now I have a stack of paperwork--seriously--almost 6 inches thick that must be done for us to finally bring her home! I woke up thinking about all the things that needed to get done today and decided I better get out of bed and spend time with the Lord! I opened up my Oswald Chambers Devotions long before the sun was up and the first words I read were – “The Concept of Divine Control”. I just wept tears of amazement of how much our Heavenly Father loves me and loves our little girl, Christina! He cares about what we care about and He desires to give us good gifts but we need to completely abandon ourselves to His perfect timing and plan and He can give us His perfect Peace. May this devotional from Oswald Chambers fill you a deep sense of the Lord’s control in your life what ever the circumstance.

In Christ Jesus,
Stephanie Carpenter
International Adoption Specialist