God Has Everything Under Control — Sandeep Poonen

Becoming Experts at Facing Trials

I think as we go through difficult trials in our lives, one of the things that we have to be get good at is knowing how to deal with trials. We should become experts in that. That's when contenders and champions are separated from pretenders.

And the people who just put on the sports jersey but don't know how to play the game. A bunch of people who can buy the sports jerseys with all the famous soccer players or cricket players or whatever you want in the back.

You look at them and they all come dressed up to play. And then you see them hold a bat and you see them run and then you figure out, nope, they don't know how to play. Some other people, they don't have all the jersey right but you see them play and you're like, this guy can play.

Who can live the Christian life? Trials tell you, let's play the game. Let the referee blow the whistle and drop the ball and then we'll see who kicks the ball and who can't kick the ball, who can hit the ball, who can't.

So we can wear the jerseys on Thursday nights. We can wear the jerseys on Sunday morning and it's all wonderful that we have well-made jerseys that we can wear. We hear good sermons and good messages.

Wonderful to hear that. But when the ball drops in the moment of temptation the referee blows the whistle and says game on in the moment of trial. So we all have to become extremely good at knowing how to deal with trials and temptations.

Trials as Opportunities for Heavenly Treasure

That's where everything, gold is made. That's where we make treasures in heaven. So it's so difficult but our eyes, spiritual eyes of our heart need to light up when there's a trial. And anyone who has gone through a trial or anyone who's going through a trial knows that what I just said is not easy for the eyes of your heart to light up and get excited when there's a trial.

But dear brothers and sisters, I'm so increasingly convinced that that's where that's where the trial, that's where the gold is being made. Trials are turned into gold. There's only one way to get treasures in heaven and it's in our trials.

And so we need to speak to our feelings. We need to speak to our circumstances when it's a trial and tell us this is gold making time. I have to tell myself despite all my feelings and all the circumstances, because I know how difficult it is.

I'm not trying to tell you this is all easy but I want to encourage you just as I encourage myself to tell myself and I speak with so much regret for how I've not been brutal in telling my feelings. This is gold making time.

This is the time diamonds were supposed to be laid up in heaven for you. And you can't get back those trials. And the trial is over, you just can't get it back. And so more than the regret of failing God, which there is, more than the regret of horrible sins that I've done, I'm just really sad that I didn't use some of those trials to generate gold and diamonds.

The good news is we've got some more coming up. We're not done yet, we're not dead yet. And a Christian is one who's gonna look forward in their heart. We never wish it upon ourselves. Dear brothers and sisters, we never wish a trial on ourselves.

I'm not turning off the heat so that I can feel cold tonight. I'm not interested in putting artificial crosses in front of myself. If I've got the money to pay for heat, I'm paying for heat. I've got money to pay for sweaters, I'm buying sweaters.

But trials will come. Despite my desire to protect myself and my family, trials will come. So I never invite a cross. But when the cross comes, I need to tell myself, Lord Jesus, this is diamond making time.

And it's not easy. It is not at all easy. I'm not telling you it is easy, but it is. And I wanna give you one sentence that we have to be very good at saying, especially in a trial. I learned this from one of my heroes, David Wilkerson.

Trusting That God Has Everything Under Control

He had it on his table. It's a very simple sentence, you can memorize it. It's that simple. God has everything under control. God has everything under control. Think about your worst trial and tell me how easy was it to say that sentence?

Not at all easy. But this is a truth that we know to be true in the good times. But we have to write it in our hearts. We have to have it written in our hearts that God has everything under control. It's so easy to roll off my tongue when I'm not in the middle of a trial, but so hard to do when I think of the difficult boss and the horrible ways in which people misunderstand me or neighbors are doing this or that or relatives or whatever it is.

I know I'm speaking from experience. My mind so quickly goes to 10, 15 minutes of why did they say this and why should I send this to them? And why didn't they do that? Why did they have this? And before I know it, it's 10, 15 minutes and my mind has gone into that whole realm rather than wrapping myself tightly around.

But God has everything under control. He knew that that person was gonna send that email. He knew that that problem was gonna happen in my life. And to say that and to draw the comfort out of it, not easy, not easy.

I don't try to tell anybody that statement when they're in the middle of a deep trial. I have to say it to myself when I'm in the middle of a deep trial. So I'm saying it to you because I don't know if any of you are going through a really difficult trial, but we have to teach ourselves to say that statement.

Persevering in Prayer for Courage and Faith

God has everything under control. And that word, everything, you can put a lot of things in that everything. And it's difficult to put everything into that word, everything. But really, is that God? Did God fall asleep when this thing happened?

Did God somehow miss it because he was busy doing something else when that other thing happened? So when I think about that statement and I meditate on that statement, it becomes richer. And I really believe there's a lot of richness in that statement in the moment of trial, if we can say God has everything under control.

And to mean it, as we heard on Sunday and was repeated also today, God's not interested in artificial tears. God's not interested in artificial praise. God's not interested in artificial statements, God has everything under control.

Meaningless. God wants us to learn how to kick that ball when it's game time. That ball is placed in front of you and God says, kick that ball in a way that says, God has everything under control. That's when we have to muster up the courage to do it.

And this is something that we need, absolutely need the Holy Spirit for. We have to have the courage that God can do it and that God will do it. Another word for courage is faith. We need to have that faith that God will give me that lips that can say it and a heart that can meet it.

And I must go to God and demand that fruit in my life. Lord, I don't want wealth, I don't want health, I don't want prosperity. This is my birthright. If you look at prayer, when I use the word demand, it sounds like a strong word, but that's the word God says in Luke chapter 18.

This woman, when he talked about how to persevere in prayer, he's talking about this woman who went to an unrighteous judgment and said, give me justice. What is the justice we deserve? God wants us to proclaim his name in the middle of our trial.

And God wants us to persevere. And another passage in Luke chapter 11 on prayer, it's shamelessness. God wants us to go and be shameless and to persevere for what? That we can proclaim from the bottom of our hearts with true miraculous lips.

That which is impossible with man, but which is possible with God. God has everything under control. Such beautiful words to put on a plaque on a table, but diamonds when spoken in the middle of a trial.

Practicing Faith Before the Next Trial

Dear brothers and sisters, let's look up. If we're in the middle of a trial, let's look up, let's prepare our hearts. If we're not in a big trial, knowing what's gonna be on the exam paper. It's like a penalty kick in football, in soccer.

Balls placed on it, let's practice. Let's practice hitting that ball into the goal. God has everything under control. God has everything under control. And let us meditate on what that word means. And when the trial comes, when the trial goes from one month to two months, and I thought, Lord, in two months it'll be over and it's gone for six months now.

Let me say, Lord, I wanna really learn what that means. God has everything under control. May God help us.