Counter Cultural: He's Got the Whole World...

Hello all,

Camden has posted a very refreshing post on his blog, Counter Cultural. I love the fact that it's simple, to the point and based on a childrens song.

I thought about adding some commentary and additional verses to this post, but after adding them they seemed to mess with the flow of Camden's post. So, I'll just pipe down and hand things over to Camden.

He's Got the Whole World

If you grew up in Church, the chances that you know the rest of this kid's church song is about 95%. In fact, I would be shocked if you didn't. The point is, I think a lot of kid's church songs have an awesome message, but we rarely pay attention past the melody to the words themselves. A good comparison is with John 3:16 -- The words themselves are absolutely incredible, but we've said it so much that it's all but lost it's meaning entirely. So what is the message of this song?

Actually, it's not a trick question. The answer is, "He's got the whole world in His hands!" The reason this is such a huge message is because it's easy to say, but so hard to live. I think you know what I'm talking about, but let me elaborate anyways. In the midst of the star-breathing, galaxy forming, world holding God, it's sometimes hard to trust that God really does have your life in mind. In these times, worry, anxiety, or even fear come upon us. We wonder if God really knows what He's doing.

Or maybe we're just impatient. Maybe we get it -- He's got the whole world in His hands. But truthfully, if we were honest with ourselves, we think life would be a whole lot easier if we had the whole world in our hands. We could make life simple. Easy-going. We'd laugh at any problem that came our way because we could instantly fix it. So why doesn't God allow this? Why does He subject us to hardship and turmoil in our lives?

I think it has to do with faith (a close synonym for trust). See, God could give you everything you ever wanted right now, instantly. But at the end of the day, what has changed in you? You'd have everything you wanted, but you'd be exactly the same on the inside (except for maybe greedier). Your faith would be just as dormant as before. It's not faith if God instantly give us what we want (see Hebrews 11:1 and Romans 8:24-25 for more on this). We don't like to admit it, but our faith grows when we're pressed, stressed, and forced out of that all too-familiar bubble called our comfort zone.

So, the question remains. How do you want to live your life? Of course, I can't answer this question for you. When we try to orchestrate our lives, things usually don't work out so great. When we give control to God, yes, it can be hard and require patience, but it always works out better in the end. He's got the whole world in His hands. So why not give Him your life, too?


Psalm 34:4-5

I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.

Camden

Many thanks to Camden for that exhortation. I think it's very appropriate for us as we begin a new week.

God bless!