Unusual God - Part 4 [Devo]

Go Deeper | Unusual God - Part 4
God Is In Control
—

About 11 years ago, my best friend, Nathan, showed me a video of people riding longboards down hills, and at 14 years old, it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. A few months after seeing this video, Nathan and I got our first longboards. We went all around my hometown, riding them down every hill we could find. It consumed almost our entire teenage years.

By the time we were seniors in high school, we both had gotten pretty good and were riding almost every day. One day, Nathan asked me to film him taking a run down the road where we were skating. So I mounted my camera on the front of my car, and off we went. Nathan pushed off harder than normal and got going way faster than he typically did. Something felt off, and I started to worry. He picked up speed quickly as he approached a left-hand turn and lost control, striking the guardrail post going about 35 miles per hour. He immediately snapped his femur and began screaming.
 
At that moment, I didn’t know what to do. So I started praying to God, asking him to save Nathan’s life. Thankfully, God answered my prayers that day. Nathan made a full recovery and was walking again six months later. He and I learned some valuable lessons that day — not only were our skating adventures much more dangerous than either of us realized, but God was in control of our situation.
 
This week, Tim continued our series “Unusual God” by talking about how God is with us, even when things seem out of control. This resonated with me because, so often, I feel like I’m in control of my life and don’t need God’s help…until something goes wrong. Then I’m forced to step out of self-reliance and remember that God is far more powerful than I am.
 
Maybe you’re going through a difficult time and feel like God isn’t answering your prayers. It’s important to realize that things don’t always work out how you want them to. In these moments, it’s difficult to trust that God is in control. But especially during these times, we need God more than ever, because He is always faithful.
 
Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

As believers, we must realize that things won’t always make sense to us. Isaiah 55:9 states, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” God sees the bigger picture and is in control, even when our lives feel like they’re spiraling downhill and out of control. Join me this week in memorizing Isaiah 41:10, and feel God’s comfort in knowing that He is in control, no matter what.

Author: Austin Michels, Videographer