There is a God

An email service called Sound Bites sends me a quote each morning.  This was the one for today:

There is a God. It is not you.

This is the beginning of wisdom. At first, it looks like bad news because I would like to run the world. I would like to gratify my desires. I would like to have my own way. But once we think about it, this idea turns out to be very good news.

It means that someone far wiser and more competent is running the show. It is His job to be God; it is my job to learn to let Him be who He is. The Bible says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Psalm 14:1) I suppose the even bigger fool, looking in the mirror, has said, “There is a god!” for the oldest temptation is that we “will be like God.” Real life, however, begins when I die to the false god that is me.
-- John Ortberg in “The Me I Want To Be”

It's an excellent reminder, don't you think? 

• When we try to control the situation, we should remember that we are not God. This is a God, and it's not me, and it's not you.
• When we are lost and alone, thinking no one cares. There is a God, and it's not me, and it's not you.
• When we think we have done something wonderful, something that means we can control the next crisis that happens. There is a God, and it's not me, and it's not you.
• When we feel helpless, and the situation is spiraling out of control. There is a God, and it's not me, and it's not you.
• When worry threatens to crush us, when life feels ominous, when we feel small. There is a God, and it's not me, and it's not you.
• When we look in the mirror and are tempted to act like God. There is a God, and it's not me, and it's not you.