Our 'Need' to be in Control

In the novel Sense and Sensibility, the heroine Marianne is lying in her bed with a fever, dying. The Hero, Colonel Brandon (who is in love with her) paces up and down outside the door in an agony of frustration. When Marianne’s sister comes out of the room he pleads with her “give me something to do, give me a work to do!”
Being “in Control”
- Who here likes being completely helpless in a situation?
  - There is nothing you can do to control it
- We all have a strong drive to be “in control” of our situation
If there is one thing that human nature cannot stand, it is being in a situation where we are helpless and out of control.
- For example, people are often afraid of flying. Why are we afraid of air travel when statistically we are much safer in an airplane than travelling in a car or even crossing the street?
- It is because we are stuck in an aluminum tube five miles up in the sky and if something goes wrong there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. If an engine catches fire, what can we do? Our fear is made much worse because we not in control.

Goal

To help us spot a “control” pattern
in our relationship with God,

and replace it with genuine trust

A man or woman will set up an idol as a representation of a god
- and worship it in order to persuade his god to do certain things
- things that he wants and over which he has no control
Today, you and I don’t usually set up an idol in our home, but we will consider later...
In ancient times, for example, in Canaan
- What would the Canaanites want control over?
  - the weather
    - rain (storm god: Ba’al)
  - war
    - War is a frightening, uncertain thing, so if you are going out to battle, it is vital to make sure that your god is on your side.
    - (this is also Ba’al or some variant)
  - fertility
    - They wanted to have lots of children
    - they wanted their animals to reproduce
    - their land to be fertile
    - and their crops to grow
- Fertility was vitally important, but the frustration was that they had little control over it. The only way to gain control was to persuade or manipulate a fertility god to give what was wanted.
  - This might take the form of sacrifices of increasing magnitude depending on the urgency of the situation.
- love
  - of course we can’t leave out the god of love. Even today everyone knows the name of Cupid, the Roman god of love. Who can make another person fall in love with them? We are out of control, unless we manipulate the situation by persuading Cupid to fire his arrow into the heart of our intended.
  - also health and prosperity etc.

How Idolatry Works

People would use all sorts of means to manipulate their god.
Elijah on Mount Carmel, the prophets of Ba’al were desperate to manipulate their god to give them the fire from heaven.
- They even cut themselves with knives hoping Ba’al would have pity on them and send them fire from heaven.
- Elijah mocked them saying, “Maybe your god is asleep. Shout louder to wake him up.”
The Canaanites were very cruel, they believed in very cruel gods and would even sacrifice their children to try to manipulate their gods to give them the things that they wanted.
- Ezekiel 23:37 tells us that the Israelites even descended to the point of sacrificing their children to the god Molech.

So if this is the wrong way of approaching God, which is the right way?
The true God HATES to be manipulated
- Today I will take a couple of main passages, but show it’s a theme that goes through Scripture.

The LORD will have compassion on his people,
and will change his plans concerning his servants;
when he sees that their power has disappeared,
and that no one is left, whether confined or set free.
He will say, “Where are their gods,
the rock in whom they sought security,
³⁸who ate the best of their sacrifices,
and drank the wine of their drink offerings?
Let them rise and help you; let them be your refuge!
“See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the LORD,
“and there is no other god besides me.
I kill and give life, I smash and I heal,
and none can resist my power. (Deut 32)

The way that God wants us to relate to him is
- to worship him because we trust him, because we love him.
We don’t worship him in order to get him to give us the good things that we want in life.
because he loves us he will give us what is good.
Our response is contentment with what he gives us.
Job says, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.” (Job 13:15)

True Worship

King Asa: 2 Chron 14

“Our God… we are powerless against this huge army that attacks us! We don’t know what we should do; but our eyes are upon you.”
All the men of Judah were standing before the LORD, along with their infants, wives, and children.
He said: “Pay attention, all you people of Judah, residents of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says to you: ‘Don’t be afraid and don’t panic because of this huge army! For the battle is not yours, but God’s.

The Test of Faith
- Sometimes God deliberately puts us in a situation where we are out of control
  sometimes, medical, financial, relational
- How do we respond to this test?
Only two things are really important in this world
1. God is all powerful
2. He loves me
We don’t really know this till we have been through it.
This is what happened with Abraham & David
He says “Come to me and trust me!”
- Will you come?