Control – as the human creatures of habit and toil that we are, many of us do our best to hold onto as much control as possible over the things in our life. I don’t see this as a bad thing. We should strive to achieve the best results we can in all areas – career, health, finances and the list goes on. Working hard to move toward your goals is a good thing and not something that should ever be discouraged.
However, in the world we live in today, we will face many things that are outside of our control. We may find ourselves in situations where there is no “good” choice, we just have to choose between the lesser of two evils. We may find ourselves so far away from anything we ever wanted in our life that we’re not sure how we even got there. It truly may have been out of our control to a great degree. We may have completely lost sight of any goals we ever had and aren’t quite sure how to start working toward them again. We may no longer want the goals we were so intent on achieving and we may be unsure of what our current goals should be. But through it all we have to believe that God brought us here for a reason and there are things to learn and ways to grow through every situation.
Jesus himself faced things in His earthly life that were out of His control – things He did not want to face and endure. Before the events of His betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus went to the olive grove called Gethsemane to pray. Mark 14:35b-36 tells us “He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” In the midst of intense suffering, even to the point of a very painful death which He knew would come, He relinquished control to an all-knowing God who used His perfect sacrifice to reconcile the sins of a fallen world and provide a way for us to spend eternity with Him.
We can use this example to conclude that maybe we allow the best result and biggest impact by letting go instead of trying to control every detail in every situation. Maybe God has bigger plans for us than we can see and relinquishing control to say “I want your will to be done, not mine” allows Him to work through our situations in ways we never thought possible or never thought to ask for.
So where do we go from there? Matthew 16:25 states “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” As hard as it is to give up control, every detail of our life is safe in God’s hands.
Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.” He has given us all gifts that He wants us to use to the greatest extent that we can for His glory. We are often more equipped than we know to join Him in the work He is doing. 1 Peter 4:10 says “God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.” Spend some time reflecting on these things and asking how and where you can join Him according to His will, not yours.
Is this an easy process? No, and it truly is a process. There is probably not a real right or wrong of how to go about it either because it is different for everyone. Most days I have no advice to give on the matter because I am still trying to figure it out myself and I truly don’t like to give up control at all :). But it is worth continually seeking and learning and putting your hope in the promises of God.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)