The family of a patient who was unresponsive after a major bleed in the brain posted a card on the clear glass door to her hospital room.
“God is in control”
It struck me how many different ways this could be read.
A question thrown out to the universe, a shout into the void. A query as to whether there was a God and if anyone was in control.
A prayer that in the midst of trials and difficulties there was a compassionate God holding the patient in forefront of his mind. A plea that as their world spun out of control a loving God remained sovereign and sufficient.
A statement of faith proclaiming a truth, a belief that God had not abandoned them, had not grown weary, and remained capable and intimately concerned with the ultimate good of the patient.
Most likely it is all three simultaneously. With each reminder that “God is in control”, a question, a prayer, and a statement of faith are simultaneously made. This was the way of many of the Psalms… a progression from doubtful to prayerful to faithful in one breath.
Regardless of whether today was life-altering or routine may our prayers carry the same pattern. A question as we struggle with the difficulties of reality, a prayer demonstrating our insufficiency and throwing our hopes on another, and a statement of faith confident in the character and nature of God.
JR.Stanley 