Delight Versus Control

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.

He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noon day." 

Psalms 37:3-6

Every major event recorded in the Bible comes down to control vs. Delight in the Lord. 

In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were given the opportunity to co-rule with Father God. Eden means PLEASURE- you could use the word delight. 

We need to learn something about the lovingkindness of The Sovereign Lord God Almighty...

He is the originator, He is all powerful and the sum of all that is. He is simply in control of everything that exists. Yet, in love, He desires to share His control.

Lucifer or any fallen angel is not in control nor is man. Yet the Sovereign Almighty God gave us free will and allowed His garden of delight to be compromised in order to find those who would partner with Him in delight.

The Lord respects the gift of free will. Control, manipulation, trickery, witchcraft, coercion or force; these are not in the way of the Lord. This is not how He operates. MANIPULATION is Lucifers way.

 So when I say God has all the control...I mean He is totally & fully in charge & all power is at His disposal. Yet He is looking for cooperation, partnership & just enforcements of wrongs.

Every single major story in the Bible is based on this choice between Control vs. Delight.

In Eden, Adam & Eve were given rulership over the garden,  in a stewardship/apprenticeship role. Ultimately, this would have led to a rulership of earth itself. 

They had a choice, stay in delight & fellowship with the Creator and enjoy delegated stewardship or gain control for themselves. 

They could daily delight in the Lord's presence, as they grew up into their role as noblemen and women of the Kingdom.

Of course human control functioning by itself does not work out, it was a ploy for Lucifer to control. In the end, they entered into millenia of man control vs. Lucifer control. But God....

Who would win the war of control? Neither one, neither man or Lucifer! For, you see control in itself was a deception, control was a delusion, a pipe dream. Control never could leave the hands of The Sovereign Almighty.

Yet, He desires loving fellowship and is willing to share in a partnership of His entire life giving system. For He is love itself and life itself and truth, itself. He is God.

So, in the garden, they sought control but lost it all. 

In the story of Noah's Ark. There was a yielding of control...there were no rudders nor steering apparatus. Noah delighted in the Lord.

In the story of the crossing of the Red Sea there was no control. Neither the Egyptians nor the Israelite were in control. 

In fact the whole story of the plagues was an allegory of losing control on both sides.

When Joshua meets the mighty angel of God's army, Joshua asks "who's side are you on?" But the angel of the Lord replies, "neither!" 

He then declares to Joshua who He is. Joshua immediately yields control and finds Himself in a delightful partnership with heaven.

In the story of King Hezekiah where they take counsel to place the singers in front of the army....at no time were they in control. The whole story is a lesson in... walking in delight. 

When Jesus wrestled in prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, what was He wrestling with? It was not the enemy! He had already done that in the wilderness.

Clearly, He had power over life itself, He had raised the dead, delivered men from legions of demons, and healed every disease. 

In the garden, He was giving up every last ounce of his right to human control,  He was giving it back to His Sovereign God, His loving Father of Delight. It was His last task to gain back delight for Adam & Eve. 

Now, we are in an epic war for control in our country and ultimately for the globe. Control is stamped on every news flash, every action of government, every movement of human activity. 

Read the entire chapter of Psalm 37; it is key to our present state of affairs. We are not in control at all but neither are those who seem to be running things. Lol. 

Ha ha ha. Ho ho ho. He He He. He is in charge. Heaven Rules. (Psalm2) 

What a delightful discovery!!!

God is Sovereign. In His lovingkindness He is preparing those who delight in Him to partner in a LIFE GIVING family affair. 

Rest in Him, abide in Him, trust in Him, act in Him. Delight yourself in the Lord.