I LOVE Control!

You may not know this about me, but my close friends know how much I am married to control. Not only do I enjoy managing my life, but I also enjoy trying to control other people's lives or circumstances around me. Trust me, I already have your life figured out. You need to find the time to call me, and I can walk you through every detail I have conjured up.

Oh, but wait! There's only one little problem. When I work to control situations, I leave God out of the picture. I tell him, "Hey, God. So, I have everything under control. You can sit back and watch it unfold."

But wait! There are several problems with trying to exclude God from the situation I am working so hard to control.

For one, I am not God. I cannot see the future. My mind is very finite. God knows everything. He sees everything. Isaiah 55:9 reminds us, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts."

When I try to control people and situations around me, my head tends to get filled with pride. I think to myself, "Wow, self! You did it. Great job." When I should be saying, "Wow, look at what God did! I never would have thought about it that way."

Solomon's words in Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall," are accurate. I am an expert at making a wreck of things when I try to take the reins and gain control over a situation. Then, my poor Father has to rescue me and undo the mess I created.

Is there something better than this exhaustive pattern of trying to gain control of a situation, piecing everything together in my mind only to watch it crumble and observe God repair the damage?

Yes. Allowing God to go before me. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

For the first time in my mid-forties, I have reached a place where I am tired of running ahead of God. It is draining and depleting. Instead, I am learning to wait on Him; it is such a beautiful sight.

In my latest devotional book, Dwell with Me, I tell the story of being laid off from my job at a school. One day, while sitting on my back porch, I began to see myself standing on a stage talking to women about the love of Jesus. God opened another door for me to work on a campus. I resigned because God revealed His plan to me to take a job where I would be allowed more time to write devotional books and speak. His plan for my life is beginning to fall into place. It is so beautiful to step back and see God's handiwork.

I pray the same for you, my friend. Jeremiah 1:5 says God has a plan for you. He has set you apart for a calling that only you can fulfill. There is no one else quite like you. Psalm 139 says, "You are fearfully and wonderfully made." Seek God. Ask Him to reveal His plan for your life. Then, wait on Him. When He is ready to show you His specialized plan, I promise you will "rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory" (1 Peter 1:8).