Let me ask you a question what is it that you're trying to control
that God wants you to surrender
Our God can do way more through your surrender than you can ever do through your control
he can do way more that which is on your heart always better in his hand
you don't always have the power to control but you do have the power to surrender
and I promise you God can do way more through your surrender than you could ever do through
your control where are you fighting God for control in your life right now
if you're like me if you're like most of us
there's there's an area or two at least where we're still fighting for God with
God for control it may be that God's calling you to let go of something maybe it's something bad
maybe there's a sin in your life that God's calling you to let go maybe it's something
good that you're holding on to and he says I've got something better for you but you're
going to have to trust me you're gonna have to let me rule and we're fighting him for control
and so when we have those places in our lives where we're fighting God for control we have to
learn to let go and trust him if we want to step into the future that God has for us at any age
we also have to be willing to let something go a lot of times this just means letting go of our
strong desire to be in control it's not easy we honestly think we know
what is best for us we know the plans that we have and and and we'll we'll submit them to God
and we'll say God this is what's best for me and I'm gonna ask you to to bless this and I'm going
to ask you to to lead me in this but we have to be willing to let go of our plans and just ask God to
to lead us into his future it doesn't mean we don't plan it doesn't mean we don't think
strategically it doesn't mean we don't use our wisdom and judgment to move into
the future it's just we have to be willing to humble ourselves before God and ask God
to direct our steps instead of asking God to bless the steps we want to take
you see when I was in control at times I made a mess of my life but when I trusted
God what I have found is that God was faithful my desire to control is rooted in a lack of faith
the more I find myself trying to control the more I overestimate my ability to
control the more I underestimate the power and the goodness of God
a simple thought to remember but not a simple thought to live to live this out it takes faith
but on the other side of your faith let me promise you you will always see the faithfulness
of God the God who is with you Second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 7 says for we live by faith
not by sight we we want to we want to live that way we want to follow it we we want to trust it
but the reality is that more often than not we we want to really live by sight and not by faith but
if we're willing to let go of that site then there are they're blessings of faith that come to us
but it's it's a struggle we have to let go of our need to be in control let go of of what we can see
because you never see all that God is doing when your
looking at it you only see that piece that he wants to show you right now you say why won't
you show me the whole thing so that you learn to walk by faith and not by sight if you're trying
to control the outcome and control the time frame you're going to live worried you have
to release control release having to have it happen your way God already has it figured out
he knows the end from the beginning but here's the key he doesn't give us the details if you
knew how everything was going to work out it wouldn't take faith if he told you three
months from now a big door is going to open it looks like you're going backwards but there's a
shortcut that's going to put you ahead you would relax and say okay it's all going to work out
why don't you do that now God has it all planned out he's doing things you can't see there are
good breaks coming healing favor the right people they're already on your schedule if you'll release
control then you can enjoy your life while you're waiting for things to change what's upsetting you
what's keeping you awake at night God is saying release it to me I'm in control I'm ordering your
steps I'm working behind the scenes it may not be good but I'm going to turn it for your good
we know the master we don't always know the master plan God is in control
doesn't always look like it but God is in control that God is with you
you're never alone and that God is for you when life feels so out of control God is in control
no matter how things appear you know as followers of Jesus I and I think a lot of
us we know that God's in control in our heads right the problem is sometimes there's a gap
between what we know in our heads and what we feel in our hearts our ability to relax
into that knowledge that God's in control and so so the question that we need to ask
ourselves is this how can we move our trust in God from our heads to our hearts listen to me
you want to move your trust from God from your head and into your heart you want to go from
what we we know to be true that God's in control to really feeling it here's what we need to focus
on we know God's in control because he turns obstacles into opportunities he turns obstacles
into opportunities those things that look like they're opposing his will he uses to accomplish it
we see that throughout scripture these things might have looked like obstacles to God's will but
the reality is he's turned them into opportunities to do even greater things listen to me
we know that God's in control because he turns obstacles into opportunities because
listen church the only safe way through chaos is trusting the only one who has true control
it's the only way through chaos when it comes to calling it's trusting the only one who really has
control we have an illusion of control we think well I could do this I could do that
I could get control of things but the reality is we're spitting into the wind we don't have
any real control and the people we look to well maybe they can control no they don't have that
ability only God has true control and only God can control you in a way that blesses you the only way
through chaos the only safe way through chaos is trusting the only one who has true control
it's hard when you when you feel as if there's a situation going on and there's very little that
you can do about it but I just wanted you to know if you feel as if life is out of control
if you feel as if that God is not listening I want to remind you never be afraid
to trust an unknown future to a known God don't be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God
and so when I cannot control something when it's out with my control I'm not going to panic
you'll discover you don't have to fear the future
because you know who your father is and that he is with you in the future
so I wonder today
how is God calling you to trust him where is God calling you to stop fighting him for control
our control issues can turn even our greatest blessings toxic our attempt to control our kids
can drive our kids away our attempt to control our spouse can end up creating a wedge between us so
the marriage just fragments and it turns into something we never dreamed it would look like
our attempts to control other people
spoils the relationships listen control issues can turn even our greatest blessings toxic
control issues they're stirred up by that fear of losing the
blessing because here's the thing listen fear is rocket fuel for control issues
this is one of the big places that our control issues come
from they come from fear of losing something that we've come to cherish
something that we've come to depend on something that God has blessed us with
and I think this is actually very helpful in our own lives it's also helpful as we look at
other people you might be in a relationship with somebody that feels pretty controlling
and it's easy to think well they're controlling because they're just bad people but the reality
is fear is rocket fuel for our control issues and it may very well be that
the people who are trying to control you are actually people who are afraid of losing you
and you're like well this is a terrible way to show it yeah I didn't say it was a good idea
but it's a very common issue because when chaos comes calling or when we think chaos might come
calling when we might lose a blessing our control issues will get stirred up they get triggered
right fear is rocket fuel for our control issues and I wonder is is there a blessing you're afraid
of losing that's fueling your control issues is there something God has blessed you with
and there's a fear inside you that that you might somehow lose it and
that's driving you to try to control it or to control them
but what's the alternative the alternative is trust the alternative is trusting the
only one who has true control because God's greatest blessings can't be seized
they can't be taken through control they can only be received in a posture of trust
because again the blessings of God aren't rewards they're gifts
we try to control our own future and all we're going to end up doing is worrying
about how we're going to provide for it how we're going to see it happen
when Jesus is saying that the key the answer is to to really just trust God for everything
and God will provide it see when we're willing to step out in faith when we're willing to trust God
God will bless us but what I've discovered now is it's a beautiful thing that God will do with
a broken life if you give him all the pieces it's a beautiful thing that God will do if
you give him all the pieces not only that God is with you even when you can't see his plan