And don't allow afflictions and persecutions, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches or desires for anything the world system has to offer to distract you from living in the overflow.
Child of God, hear me loud and clear - God is in control. Even when you don't think so, God is in control. Even when it looks as if everything is going to pieces around you, God is in control.
Remember the widow in the seventeenth chapter of first Kings? That woman was getting ready to die. She said, "I'm going to use up the last of my meal and oil to make this cake for me and my boy. Then we're going to die."
But did her trouble and her fear stop God? Of course not. God stretched the woman's resources. Nobody was putting meal into that barrel. God was stretching the woman's resources. And not only that - later on, this same woman's son got sick and died, but God saw to it that he was revived and resurrected from the dead.
How many of you know God can stretch your resources? Why? Because He's in control. You'd be amazed what two dollars and fifty cents and some coupons can do. God knows how to stretch your resources.
God is in control.
"But...but, Pastor, it doesn't look like it."
God is in control.
"But what about my situation?"
God is in control.
"But you don't know what happened last week."
God is in control.
"But the doctor said..."
God is in control.
"But they cut off my..."
God is in control.
"But I don't have..."
God is in control.
"But the devil..."
Shhh. God is in control.
"But they said..."
God is in control!
You see, you have to know that. You must receive that. You must believe that in order to maintain your peace. When you can't figure out why things are doing what they're doing, you've got to have in your spirit - "That's all right. God is in control."
I don't understand how this is going to end, but God is in control. I'm not going to fear what might happen, because God is in control. I'm not going to fear what man can do to me, because God is in control. I'm not going to receive the bad report, because God is in control. And if God is in control, it'll be all right.
It Will Be All Right
It'll be all right because it's not you who is in control. You've turned the controls over to God. God's doing the driving. He is responsible for your getting to your proper destination. You'll get there. You'll get there. You'll get there - just keep yourself set. Keep yourself set the way you would set your headings if you were piloting an airplane.
On an airplane you must set your headings because that's the only thing that guarantees you will arrive in the right place. You can't figure it out because when you get up in the air, everything looks the same. But as long as you have your headings set right on your instruments, you don't have to worry about getting lost.
You do the same with the Word of God. Set your headings to take you where you want to go. Then turn control over to the autopilot and sit back and monitor the instruments. Make sure that everything's operating right. God (the Autopilot) will get you to the proper destination.
And when you see it, go ahead and land the aircraft. Land it smoothly. Get out and possess the land. Set your headings by the Word of God. Let God do the driving. He's your Autopilot. And then when you get there, just go ahead and possess the land. It's yours. God bought you that. God is in control.
Listen to me, child of God - you're going to be all right. From this point on, you don't have to be troubled. Trouble may show up, but you don't have to let it trouble you.
The devil may claim to be in control of your circumstances, but you can just laugh in his face and say, "Get out of here, devil. You're not in control. God is in control. Nobody but Jesus sits on the throne of my life. And because Jesus sits there, I will have righteousness. I will have peace. I will have joy in the Holy Ghost. I bind principalities and powers and wicked spirits in heavenly places, and God is perfecting that which concerns me. In Jesus' name. Amen."
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers