Coincidence?

Wow! Its been a while since I've done this.... So, its 6:07 in the morning and I can't fall asleep. I'm not sure if its cause my arms are so sore, if its just a continuation of that crazy hyper mood I was in last night, or if I just can't stop thinking about God. I guess maybe all three?!
Have you ever been amazed by him, awed by him? I was talking to a friend about coincidence last night and how after a while you see God's power and control in it. It reminded me of a passage that I memorized so long ago.
Psalm 139 - O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

So now check out this next part. David says,

You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Does that boggle your mind? Do you believe the Bible when it says that? So, not only does God know everything about us, not only does he know everything we do and say (before we do and say it for that matter), but he also has his hand apon our lives. The NASB has "enclosed me" instead of "hem me in." You get the sense of David saying he's trapped by God, yet he says "you have laid your hand apon me," and "your hand will guide me." You get the sense that David is saying goodbye to coincidence in life.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Now think about this:

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.


So, how should we live life knowing this? Its so nice to know that God is in control. That his hand will guide us.

But why doesn't it feel that way? Why doesn't make it obvious that he is in control? While I would say that many times God does(ask for stories...), it really is hard for me to believe it sometimes. Its hard to believe when it feels like we're making all the decisions. It seems like if God was really in control- that he would be more obvious about it- and let us take the back seat. But instead, he lets us make the decisions and assures us that he is in control of everything. Why does he do it that way? Perhaps its simply to test and see whether we really trust him- to test and see whether we really trust if he is in control. And when we do trust this truth, we have peace like nothing else can give. Or maybe its to draw us to himself when we dont believe and we come head to head with the fact that we are insufficient to run our own lives. We can't control our lives.

Ultimate peace is in the fact that God is in control. He is today. The Bible says so- even though it may not seem like it. All we have to do is trust it.

Worship Him for his power- that he has the ability to control everything going on on the earth and in our lives. Worship him for his love- that he thinks about each and everyone of us and has 'laid his hand apon us.' Worship him for his sovreignty- that he works all things out for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. And fear Him. Respect Him for who He is. For surely He is God alone.