Tucson Mountain Baptist Church

Many different factors can cause our lives to be out of control; strife, natural disasters, pandemics, recessions, wars, in our individual lives, such as job loss, health problems, divorce, mental illness, spiritual struggles, and more.
When we focus on the right things, we can maintain a sense of peace. We either look OUT or we look IN when we really should be looking UP. Looking out means keeping our focus on the problem. To look in means to focus on ourselves. What we’re feeling and how we’re being affected.
Remember our definition of Stress is “fearful concern experienced when life’s demands seem greater than my ability to meet them.”
So what’s the right focus to have when circumstances have gone beyond your control? To look up! Focus on the One who has the necessary resources to solve the problem.
“After dismissing the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And a fierce gale of wind developed, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling with water. And yet Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who, then, is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Mark 4:36-41
Here's the key principle that serves as the foundation for everything we’re going to explore tonight: Our circumstances do not shape the way we view our God; Our God shapes the way we view our circumstances.


God is ACTIVE
“For behold, He who forms mountains and creates the wind, and declares to a person what are His thoughts, He who makes dawn into darkness and treads on the high places of the earth, The LORD God of armies is His name.” Amos 4:13
Many people in our culture seem to believe that God is distant, passive. Even Jesus followers can drift into this way of thinking when they encounter circumstances beyond their control.
There are 5 verbs in that previous passage that describe God’s activity in our world: forms, creates, declares, makes, and treads.
“My Father is always working” He said, “and so am I.” John 5:17 NLT
God is Omnipotent – He is all-powerful Every action He takes is born out of that power.
God is Omniscient – He is all knowing His every action is rooted in His deep and eternal wisdom.
God is Omnipresent – God is everywhere at all times.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very ready help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1
God is active in our lives specifically. We can hold on to His peace, even when our circumstances spin out of control.
God is Sovereign
God is constantly and continuously active in our world.
Sovereign means “He is the One who exercises supreme authority” and is “The supreme ruler” “ He is supreme in rank and authority.”
Amos 4:13 reveals God’s sovereignty in two words. “Mountains” represent everything in our world that’s stable and under control – everything that’s certain. And the “Wind”. What’s more unpredictable and powerful than the wind?
Sometimes the storms of life don’t veer away. Sometimes we suffer a direct hit. It’s critical to understand that our circumstances did not catch God by surprise.
Paul writes, For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Colossians 1:16-17
There was a sovereign Designer. Our God spoke it all into existences. He’s holding it all together so every single section of our world and our experience fits together as part of a whole that is His plan and His purpose.
God is Personal
He is present within our world. Our active, sovereign God has a name – a name you and I can know. Our God is not some generic “force” hovering somewhere out in the universe.
“The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10
“For whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Rom. 10:13
Whoever means Anyone, everyone who calls on the Lord. Life is a stress test. Sometimes one test on top of another. The good news is that we can have this active, sovereign, personal God. We can call on Him. When we make Him the foundation of our lives and allow Jesus to live in us and through us – we can be filled with His peace.