Who's In Control?

The things the Lord allows to come into our lives don't seem to be so lovingly filtered at times, but we as His children can trust in the fact that nothing in our lives is unnoticed by Him, or is too great to be under His control.
Psalm 139:16 says that God not only knew how He would form us, but also that He already decided how each of our days would be lived, He fashioned them Himself beforehand.
Ps. 56:11 also says that nothing can happen to me that God doesn't allow. If our Creator is more powerful than the Evil one, is He also capable to be in control of everything that He allows to come into my life? And that being true, then it must be for a reason, and I really CAN thank Him for everything as 1 Thes.5:18 says, because He is worthy of my trust. And because He says everything is working together for our good
An old saying always pops into my head whenever I ask God "Why?!". "Faith isn't faith until it's the hardest thing to do". And sometimes it just seems too hard to do. How can anyone feel like praising God when you've just lost a child, or your spouse abandons you, or your life is slipping away from an unknown disease, or your sons were taken away to serve in a terrorist regime? How can we feel like thanking God for His perfect plan, when it isn't the plan that you want? Everyone who searches for this answer probably has their own way of finding it. The book of Job is where many of us go to hear God declare His sovereignty in the midst of devastation. We all have our favorite chapters of comfort, and verses proving His trustworthiness. Also, choosing songs of praise to keep in my mind helps me stay focused on Him. In my case, being blessed with a husband who's always ready to comfort and encourage is my biggest source of help. Sometimes all we can hang onto is the grace he miraculously gives us to endure. But I know my human nature has trouble staying in the "strong tower" that is our loving Father - pro.19:10 - who offers all the things we rely on.

Daniel 5:23 says that God holds our breath in His hands and owns all our ways. As my pastor said tonight, if God knows how many hairs we have our head, doesn't that show us how intimately He planned our days?
So, when we use all possible resources to protect our child, our marriage, our health - are we also able to praise Him for shaping our life His way, when He doesn't do what we ask? Depending on the degree of our mourning, it can honestly take some of us a while to even think of praising His wisdom.

I am by no means saying we should always be happy, or that we're sinful when we struggle with our faith. God's word does say that we are to mourn with each other, encourage, comfort, and provide for physical and emotional needs. That proves that He knows we will often have struggles, heartbreak, persecution, fear, anger, etc, and that we also need the encouragement of knowing that the family of believers will take time to remember us in prayer. Even though He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us, our relationships with each other was Jesus' concern when He washed His disciples feet and instructed us to do the same.

That's one of the things that makes us peculiar (set apart) from those who aren't His sheep. We have a hope, a peace that comes from trusting God with the reins. And though I keep taking the reins away from Him, that doesn't alter His control, it only alters my faith in His control.