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The following comes from the devotional book “What Now?” by Ashley Akers. To learn more, go to www.whatnowdevo.com.
Control
Can I confess something? I like control. I like to control my life in every aspect—who is (or isn’t) in it, what other people are doing, my kids’ actions or how a project should be completed. When things don’t go as planned, I get frustrated because even though I had a plan B, I preferred plan A. Do you know what all of this is? Exhausting. While society is screaming to me, “you are in control!” it is simply not true. I had to come to the realization after my exhausting attempts to control things, that I’m in control of nothing! Once I realized this, I had a different outlook. God is God and I am not; and He is the One who made me, as stated in Genesis 1:27.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
I still find myself asking, “How could I tell God—the Creator of the Universe—how to do things or question Him?” It isn’t my place, never has been and never will be. Accepting this truth was freeing. Freedom from the anxiety I put myself through when things don’t go as planned or worrying about other people.
Philippians 4:6 says,
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Matthew 6:34:
Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
To experience freedom from control, you must FIRST realize that you are not in control and that God is the ONE seated on the throne. You cannot allow God to work through you when you are still trying to take the lead. We simply cannot compete with Him. Second, make a daily, conscious decision to submit your own will and desires to His perfect will. This is easier said than done, especially if you try doing it in your own strength. Lean solely on God and watch those issues of control slowly vanish. Let go and experience freedom!
Reflection Questions
1. What are things you like to control? List them. How differently would your life look if you allowed God to be in control?
2. In the big scheme of things of God’s plan, does the thing you are trying to control really matter? Or is it something that could be overlooked?
3. Why is it difficult for you to give up control?
Copyright © 2024 by Ashley Akers @ whatnowdevo.com. No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org