Handled. With Care.

"Any thing that God takes charge of, God will take care of."

Pastor Sam has said this to us on more than one occasion, but when he said it near the close of the Christmas morning message it was as if I was hearing it in a new light.

Oh, God, take charge of me! Take care of me!


God is in charge of us, even when our circumstances look bleak.
God cares for us, even when it appears that no one is on our side.


Our God is an awesome God who does things we don't fully understand.

• He is the God who, at the intersection of life where we hold the right-of-way, can tell us to not move.
• He is the God who speaks incredible things in an instant, but gradually manifests them over years.
• He is the God who defies logic and asks us to trust Him as we step outside of the "normal" course of life.
• He is the God who asks us to stand up and speak for Him in a world that warns us to sit down and stay quiet. 

Jesus, fully God and fully man, has done things we don't fully understand.

• He willingly left His glorious kingdom and came to earth.
• He endured rejection even before He came out of the womb, as the inn was deemed too full to accommodate His presence. 
• He began life as a homeless infant, a cattle-feeding trough as His bed. 
• He was a refugee toddler, living in Egypt as Herod killed every other baby boy in His hometown.

Why would a King subject Himself to such degradation at His entry into the earth, and allow it to continue for decades? As the old hymn goes, What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

I don't understand why He has done this... but I embrace what He has done.

It is an oxymoron, but it is true: there is an incredible freedom that comes into our lives when we choose to enslave ourselves to Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul often spoke of himself as "the bondservant of the Lord". Lord, I had a choice, and I have chosen to be Your slave, and You have in turn set me free.

So here we are. We can be homeless, and yet be His. We can be rejected by man, yet loved by God. We can be deemed illogical by the world's standards, yet be in God's perfect will. There is no better place for us to be than in the hands of God.

The Owner is in charge; the Owner cares.
Yes, Lord. Reign and rule over me.