"The Lord Reigns, let the earth be glad,let the distant shores rejoice." Psalm 97:1
Earlier this year in the news, some people thought that the Chinese government might try to slow down the recent rise in their stock market. So, people sold their stocks and as a result, the Shanghai exchange dropped nine percent.
The Asian stock markets took a nosedive and people in Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and Australia got worried when the Shanghai exchange dropped. After hearing what was going on in Asia, people in the United States and Europe became gravely concerned. So, they sold some of their stocks and the New York Stock Exchange tumbled, which was the worst drop since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. When the Stock Market dropped, the company that holds my retirement investment also dropped. It’s a little bit scary to think that people in China can change my life based on their anxious investment procedures.
This is one of the reasons why I rejoice that God is in control. He has always been in control.
Let me give you just one example. About 2,000 years ago, the emperor of Rome got worried. The Lord used the financial and political concerns of Caesar Augustus to send out a decree that the entire world should be taxed. That decree caused a Galilean carpenter and his wife to make a trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Which is why the world’s Savior fulfilled God’s promise and prophecy that the Savior would be born in that little Judean town.
God is in control. When I say that, I don’t mean that God controls everything we do. Humans have a free will. Isaiah said, “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
Being a Christian doesn’t mean we are free from trouble, it means we have a Savior that has promised to be with us through everything we choose to go through. He’s a spiritual physician and comes to seek and save the lost. Believe that we have a God that has control of the entire world.
THE PRAYER: Dear heavenly Father, I give thanks for Your control and Your concern. When the world seems to wobble, and the future seems frightening, draw me closer to You. I know Your love is reliable and unfailing. And In Your Son’s Name, I ask it. Amen.
Today's Bible Readings: Numbers 28-30 Luke 1:21-38
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