Giving Up Control
Ok, so call me slow. But like the sound of “dings” from a group text, this repeatedly came to my mind; We think of addiction having control over us, but it is us needing to control something. I know that is not mind-blowing to some, but it made me understand our need to be right. For that to happen, we need to have control over something. And it seems a little more pronounced as we are in such unsettled times. As Christians, we are to surrender all, but about half or seventy-five percent is about all we can muster up. I keep hearing in my Spirit, too; Jesus didn’t give all for us to give half.
Having control over something is nothing but a mechanism we put in place because of fear. If we release everything and let God be in control of us, we think we might change into something else, while we believe we are managing just fine. However, God knows who we really are and wants us to be who He created us to be, which is good, because He is good and desires us to be more like Him. So, really, to find our true selves, we must lose ourselves, and we do that by giving up control. YIKES!
Look what the Message Paraphrase says about this subject in Romans 6; “Could it be any clearer? Our old way of life was nailed to the cross with Christ, a decisive end to that sin-miserable life—no longer captive to sin’s demands! What we believe is this: If we get included in Christ’s sin-conquering death, we also get included in his life-saving resurrection. We know that when Jesus was raised from the dead it was a signal of the end of death-as-the-end. Never again will death have the last word. When Jesus died, he took sin down with him, but alive he brings God down to us. From now on, think of it this way: Sin speaks a dead language that means nothing to you; God speaks your mother tongue, and you hang on every word. You are dead to sin and alive to God. That’s what Jesus did.”
Father God, you are our Deliverer! How grateful we are. Lord, You are in control of EVERYTHING. Please, deliver us from the circumstances we are fearful of and help us not rely on ourselves but on You, the God who raises the dead. Set our hope on You, fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. We do not make good gods; help us all release everything in our grip to you so that we can be “all” You intended us to be.
Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.
2 Corinthians 1:9-11 (NIV)
