In Control?

There has been much penned regarding the importance of controlling oneself and the benefits are evident. But, tonight is not about controlling yourself. Tonight is about everything else you think you control. Outside of yourself, and that is tenuous at best, you are not in control of much. You cannot guarantee an outcome. You can do your best, try your best, give it your best shot, but you cannot control things that are outside your sphere of control. Understanding this and working with it can unload your mind of a vast load of burdens. You’re out here living life at full speed scared to death about what might happen next. Every day your mind is besieged with “what if” possibilities; open invitations for further consideration. That’s not to say that common sense precautions are not in order, but rather you and I are not in control of the outcome. We can hope so. We can believe for the good. We can make bargains or justify why bad things should not happen to us, but in the end, we do not control the outcome. Trying to control outcomes we do not control is the recipe for a stressed out existence. Outside of yourself, are you in control?

This old world runs, operates, functions, even thrives, on fear. Fear is the expectation of a negative outcome. Fear boldly dictates what you must do in order to avoid that negative outcome or else convinces you there is nothing you can do leading to hours, days, weeks, even years of unnecessary worries and pain. Fear is an illusion, a delusion really. Fear drives you to take actions that aren’t needed in opposition to an imagined scenario. Either wear yourself out in preparatory caution or else dry your mind and heart out in endless worry over something that is not only not true, but something you have no control over at all. Much fear would be assuaged if people simply acknowledged their lack of control and sought help from Him that is in control. You are out here doing all the right things, checking all the right boxes, supplying your full effort, yet still have no control over the outcome. All you really have is the illusion of control. Parents are terrified something might happen to their kids so they hover over them or prohibit anything remotely adventurous in favor of safe over risk and rob the child of the learning. Instead fear becomes the lesson. You ( and I) do not have enough brain power to cover every variable our kids may face. Of ourselves, we actually have no power at all, other than the power to control our own minds and bodies, and the power to decide. Knowing this and accepting it, we know we need help in order to navigate this thing successfully. We need help with all that we do not control, which is almost everything else. Or, are you in control?

One great advantage God has over everything in creation (which He created) is that He can see the future. He is the only One that can. You can’t. I can’t. The devil can’t! Because God can see the future, He is never caught off guard. He knows what is coming no matter how sly or surreptitious the enemy might be. God is in control of the outcomes. God is the One that can make things work out. And, in knowing the future, your future, He has already provided whatever it is you need in the situation or dilemma you are facing. As in, planned ahead. As in, He already knew. As in, why would any of us keep trying to do His job by seeking to control our own lives, or at minimum keep our own selves safe? Trying to do so, however sincere and well-intentioned, is destined to fail; sure to end in unwanted outcomes, lacking several key ingredients, namely a knowledge of what’s actually coming and next, a complete lack of power or ability to do anything about it. Hear what I’m telling you. God never intended for you to live your life that way. Your original design and mine was to be completely reliant on God for every aspect of our lives. EVERY aspect! You were never supposed to try and figure life out on your own and somehow be your own sufficiency outside of God. That is something the world convinced you of my friend. You are all stressed out trying to do God’s job. Fear has convinced you that the safety and well being of everyone around you is your responsibility. If you slip or miss it for just a moment, disaster looms. It’s no wonder folks die young or have their lives depleted and eaten away by worries and stressors and trouble that never seems to stop coming. It stops when you stop relying on your own power, your own brain, your own smarts, your own abilities to figure it out and finally turn it all over to the One that already knows what to do. Let Him keep your kids safe when you are not around and when you are around. Let Him keep you from the diseases and heal you if you need it. Let Him show you where your prosperity is waiting for you rather than working yourself to the bone trying to find it and do it alone. You are not in control. God is.

I suppose it goes without saying that God is never behind your negative outcomes. God does not control situations to bring anyone a negative outcome or result. Instead, being a God of love, He desires to give you and me the outcomes we desire. Not fearful expectations, but solutions and answers and results. God has the power, ability and willingness to help us change any outcome that needs to change. He makes all things work together for good for those that love Him, trust Him and rely on Him. I don’t know about you, but I have spent enough of my life trying to control things I did not control and force outcomes over things I had no control over whatsoever. It is both exhausting and fruitless. You and I do not have to “get better” “get smarter” or “work harder” in order to get our needs met. We simply need to relinquish our grip on the things we do not control and trust Him with the things beyond our scope. It is life as God designed it. Are you in control? No, but you can get help from the One that is…

Just some good thoughts…