Have you ever heard that phrase? Has someone spoken this directly to you in
the midst of a struggle that you were enduring?
Have you ever wondered if that statement is really true?
I mean if it is, then why were things not fixed or healed up
or accomplished in the way that you wanted?
If God really had IT handled, then why do so many things seem so far
outside of our control?
I admit that I heard this phrase repeated many times over
throughout my life. When dad nearly died
when being hit by a drunk driver, when my mom was dying from brain cancer, when
my grandma was slipping away with alzheimers, when my uncle was diagnosed with
ms, when we were going through our difficult adoption processes, when the
Columbine shootings affected those that we loved, when our Haitian family lost
property and lives in the earthquake, when Susan lost a job. We heard these words, “God’s Got This,” when
our friends lost their jobs, when divorces happened, when unexplainable
tragedies impacted their lives, when wars broke out and towers came tumbling
down and lives were forever changed. I’ve heard these words in the hushed tones
spoken at funerals and memorial services.
I’ve heard these words spoken aloud when new opportunities emerged
through the midst of loss, when new love was discovered after a time of
hopelessness, when new seasons and new insights were discovered. God’s Got This!
I think this phrase was planted deep in my soul in my
childhood years as we stood in the midst of a rural congregation and sang loud
and proud, “God’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.” You too know that song well.
God’s Got This. God’s
Got This. God’s Got This.
What is THIS? The
THIS is not the situation. The THIS is
not the circumstance in which you find yourself.
The THIS is YOU!
God’s Got YOU! God’s
Got YOU! God’s Got YOU!
And YOU live in the midst of a messy world. You live in the midst of the out of
control. You live with the challenges
and the hurts and the sickness, unemployment, broken relationships, and
chaos. And it’s there in the midst of
your THIS that GOD’s GOT YOU! That is
God’s promise. And that Church is Call
for Celebration! This Good News Changes
our Lives!
We hear in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 3, of the Baptism of
Jesus. Jesus, down in the river Jordan,
was given a promise. The Holy Spirit did
not descend upon the situation – the issue – the concerns that Jesus would
face. The Holy Spirit descended upon
Him! The Holy Spirit entered his
life. Why? Because God’s Got Him! God Holds Him! God will Raise Him!
Did the Holy Spirit save Jesus from hardship, temptation, suffering,
and distress? No. Did the Holy Spirit make his life
easier? No. Was the Holy Spirit of God with Jesus in
every moment of every passing day.
Yes. Was that Holy Spirit there
on the Cross? Yes. Was the Holy Spirit there in the cold dark
tomb raising him to life? Yes. Ahhhhhhhhh……..that’s why we can say with
faith conviction…..God’s Got This! God’s
Got Him and God’s Got You! This is great
news! It is humbling news. It is hopeful news.
The writer of Isaiah 43 reminds us……God redeems, God calls,
and God promises to be with us through it all.
Redeemed from the pit….from despair and depression…from pain and
loss….from our mistakes and accidents…..redeemed from the beautiful mess called
us. Called….called to live by faith and
not by sight…called like Peter to step out of the boat and take on new
challenges….called to fully live life and pour out our lives so that others too
can experience life in all its beauty and splendor….called to never throw in
the towel and quit but to be empty tomb people in the midst of every
situation…the call of life is to live in the light of the resurrection. All while living as redeemed and called
people….never forgetting who holds us and shapes us and refines us….God with us
through it all.
This redemption, call, and promise that we see in Isaiah and
see in the Baptism of Jesus, reminds me of the character Joshua in the
Bible. The whole book is a powerful
read. It is filled with every dynamic of
life. Many of the things we wish were
not part of the human ordeal and many of the parts that we also enjoy. If you have never read Joshua, pick up your
Bibles this week and give it a read and see how God speaks to you.
In Chapter One we hear how Joshua is commissioned to takes
the reigns of leadership after Moses has died.
He is reminded that God promises to Moses still are intact and now given
to Joshua. The Lord promises that he
will be with him and that God will not fail him. Over and over again he is told, “Be strong
and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, the Lord your God is with you
wherever you go.” Powerful words. Maybe we need to hear that more in our lives
as well. “Be strong and courageous; the
Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
A shorter version of that: “God’s
Got THIS – God’s Got YOU!”
The ensuing pages are filled with everything that life can
throw at a person. In the midst of the
challenges, Joshua stays the course, he holds onto the promise.
We get to Chapter 24 where Joshua’s life is coming to a
close. On those pages we read of how the
Tribes all renewed with Joshua the same covenant God had given to him and to
Moses. We read of God’s generosity, of
God’s leadership in their lives. Then we
get to verse 14 and following:
“Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness;
put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and
serve the Lord.
Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you
will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the
River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me
and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Then the people answered, “Far be it from us
that we should forsake the Lord
to serve other gods; for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from
the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs
in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the
peoples through whom we passed; and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the
Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is
our God.” But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is
a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you
forsake the Lord
and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm, and consume you,
after having done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No, we will serve
the Lord!”
Then Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you
have chosen the Lord,
to serve him.” And they said, “We are witnesses.” He said, “Then put away the
foreign gods that are among you, and incline your hearts to the Lord, the God of Israel.” The
people said to Joshua, “The Lord
our God we will serve, and him we will obey.” So Joshua made a covenant with
the people that day, and made statutes and ordinances for them at Shechem.
Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God; and he took a large
stone, and set it up there under the oak in the sanctuary of the Lord. Joshua said
to all the people, “See, this stone shall be a witness against us; for it has
heard all the words of the Lord
that he spoke to us; therefore it shall be a witness against you, if you deal
falsely with your God.” So Joshua sent the people away to their inheritances.
After these things Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being
one hundred ten years old. They buried him in his own inheritance at
Timnath-serah, which is in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash.
Israel served the Lord
all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and
had known all the work that the Lord
did for Israel.
We are witnesses to this same faith and same promise of
God. Over and over the words jump off
the page: “God’s Got THIS!” “God’s Got YOU!” So……All of YOU……US Together…..no matter what
the world seeks to throw at us or whatever the challenges to come may be, “Be
strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is
with you wherever you go!” The
Israelites were Redeemed, Called, and God was ever present. For Moses and Joshua the same was true. Dare I say, I believe it is true for us as
well.
A vision was birthed through the challenges the Israelites
faced. The vision: “All the days of our
lives we will serve the Lord!” And they
did. Never perfectly, but
faithfully. And it wasn’t easy.
Hear today, “You are God’s kids……God loves you….God is proud of
you!” Trust the promise: “God’s Got
THIS…..whatever your THIS is…..because God’s Got YOU!
Pastor Chad
