CONTROL!

Sometime ago, I had the (ahem!) delight of driving on the Bundesautobahn (BAB) (Federal Motorway)—aka the Autobahn—in Germany. Driving a rental Mercedes to traipse round that country—twice!—remains one of the high points of my recent European sojourn.

The German autobahns are historically important for being the world’s first restricted-access, high-speed road network, opening in 1935 with an artery connecting Frankfurt to Darmstadt. With a total network length of about 7,500 miles, the BAB is the third longest in the world, behind the Interstate Highway System of the USA and the National Trunk Highway System of China. But unique—and fascinating for many!—is the fact that these German highways are the few of the public road systems in the world that do not have speed limits for cars and motorbikes.

Hence the photograph. But honestly, we weren’t going fast enough! Puttering along at a humble 128 mph, we were outzipped by intemperate Porsches and licentious Ferraris. Incidentally, a recent study by the German Interior Ministry demonstrated that the accident records of such roads were comparable with those of roads with speed limits. Be that as it may, 128 mph was good enough for me; beyond that, I lost my nerve. There was a tangible feeling that things were out of control around those speeds—at least for me.

I’m content with knowing that the earth (with me on it) is hurtling around the sun at about 67,000 mph. I am not compelled to floor the gas pedal of my car in addition. And at those speeds we are completely out of control. We can’t do a thing about our planetary motion. Our translocations in time and space are way beyond our ken and absolutely beyond our governance!

But not for God. Thankfully, He is in control.

In Him we live and move and exist ….
Acts 17:28

We subsist in Him, and God’s providence—His continual involvement with His creation— maintains all things in existence.

He is before all things,
and in Him
all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17

There is nothing outside the control of God’s sovereignty.

The LORD has established
His throne in the heavens,
and His sovereignty rules over all.
Psalm 103:19

Even the affairs of mankind.

The mind of a person
plans his way,
but the LORD directs his steps.
Proverbs 16:9

Everything moves to fulfill His will.

He works all things
after the counsel of His will.
Ephesians 1:11

God’s council, none can overturn; His purposes, none can thwart.

For the LORD of hosts
has planned,
and who can frustrate it?
And as for His
stretched-out hand,
who can turn it back?
Isaiah 14:27

Indeed, without finitude to His power, without the limitations of time, space, or extent of any kind …

The counsel of the LORD
stands forever.
Psalms 33:11

He is the Pantocrator, the Almighty.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,”
says the Lord God,
“who is and who was
and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:8

What a relief! When we lose our grip on things (often), when our frailties and incapacities threaten to overwhelm (daily), when we come face to face with our mortality (without fail, soon), there is One on the throne! And He is for us, for His children, believers in Christ Jesus.

If God is for us,
who is against us?
Romans 8:31

Praise God! The Almighty is in control!

For from Him and through Him
and to Him are all things.
To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:36

And “Amen!”