God Is in Control Even When Your Plans Stall by Rick Warren

“Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing” (Romans 4:17b NLT).

There are certain dead-end words in life, including “cancer,” “divorce,” “bankruptcy,” “infertility,” and “unemployment.”

How do you know when you’re at a dead end? You know it when things get out of your control and you can’t do anything about it.

When you’re stuck and waiting for deliverance, you need to remember what God can do. The situation may be out of your control, but it’s not out of God’s control. When you face a dead end, don’t focus on what you can’t do. Focus instead on what God can do.

Romans 4:17b says, “Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing” (NLT).

Here are two things God does that you can’t do: He can give life to the dead, and he can create something out of nothing. If God can give life to a dead man, he can give life to a dead career. He can bring life to that dead marriage. He can bring life to that dead dream. He can bring life to that financial dead end.

It wasn’t just positive thinking that helped Abraham. Positive thinking works fine in situations you can control. But positive thinking is not faith. They are two very different things.

In situations that are out of your control, positive thinking is worthless. It’s just wishful thinking. It doesn’t change the situation. When you face things that are out of your control, you need something more than a positive mental attitude. You need faith in God, because he can control it when you can’t. Most of life is beyond your control, so you need faith far more than you need positive thinking.

Jesus says in Luke 18:27, “What is impossible with man is possible with God” (NIV). God specializes in the impossible. It’s called a miracle, and he can do it in your life! He is ready to turn your dead end into deliverance.

Talk It Over

What dead end are you facing today?
Why is it sometimes difficult to admit that something is out of your control?
What’s the result of having faith in God even at a dead end? How does it change you? How does it change your circumstances?