Letting God guide us takes trust and faith. To profess faith is one thing, to have it is another.
[Gary Petty] We just finished a new Beyond Today program titled, "Has God Lost Control?" You know, we were trying to tap into the angst that so many people feel that life is out of control. They don't know what's going on. They can't put things together. The world scene doesn't make any sense. Their local scene doesn't make any sense. Their family, their church, everything seems out of control. And so the conclusion is or the question we ask is, "Has God lost control?" Well, God is still in control.
The problem is are we willing to give our lives over to Him and let Him control us? Or willing to trust Him and trust in His goodness?
It reminds me of a story of the man who was walking through the woods one day and fell off a cliff. Halfway down he managed to grab hold of a limb only to find out that he had sprained an ankle and broken a couple of ribs, and he couldn't go up or down. And so he cried out, "Is there anybody up there? Is there anybody that can come help me? Is there anybody that can hear me?" After crying out for a couple of hours finally a voice said, "I'm here." And he said, "Who are you?" And He says, "Well, I'm God. You've always said you believe in Me. I'm here. I'll help you." The man said, "Good, good. Save me! Save me!" God said, "Okay, just let go and I'll catch you." There was a long silence. Then the man cried out, "Is there anybody else up there?"
You know, it's one thing to say that we have faith in God. It's another thing to actually give our lives to Him and let Him have control. Are you willing to let God have your control? Control over your life? Has God lost control? No, but are we willing to give it to Him in faithful, loving obedience.
That's today's BT Daily.
Our world is experiencing a crisis of faith. Few people place much faith in the future. Many have no faith their marriages will survive, that political leaders will honorably serve their country or that education will prepare them adequately for the challenges ahead. Faced with the difficulties of everyday life, many people simply have no confidence that there will be a better tomorrow.
Gary Petty is a 1978 graduate of Ambassador College with a BS in mass communications. He worked for six years in radio in Pennsylvania and Texas. He was ordained a minister in 1984 and has served congregations in Longview and Houston Texas; Rockford, Illinois; Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin; and San Antonio, Austin and Waco, Texas. He presently pastors United Church of God congregations in Nashville, Murfreesboro and Jackson, Tennessee.
Gary says he's "excited to be a part of preaching the good news of God's Kingdom over the airwaves," and "trusts the material presented will make a helpful difference in people's lives, bringing them closer to a relationship with their heavenly Father."