Don't be a control freak - Trust God Part 2

The happiest Christians are those who have relinquished all rights and yielded themselves entirely to Christ. Can you think of ONE thing that is truly your 'right' as a Christian? I can think of one: to boldly enter the throneroom of grace to find the help we need! There aren't many more than that!

"But," I hear people say, "I have the right to do what I please with MY spare time." Really? When I got married, this was perhaps the hardest area for me to address in myself. When I was single generally I had complete freedom as to what I did in my free time - watching T.V., reading novels, surfing the internet. Funny, isn't it, how we often end up marrying someone SO opposite from us?! These three activities were not merely a preference issue to my husband, but on occasion he viewed them as moral issues (like, it's morally wrong to waste time)! (Hope Sam doesn't mind that I share this - don't worry people - he has totally changed and these were just some of those minor - or major - things we had to figure out in the early years of marriage)! Because of some of these issues (not because I agreed but in deference to his conscience), I chose to give up my 'rights' to use my free time how I chose. Many of you may balk at such thinking, but our marriage has been the better for it (and in time he changed many of his views on these things - like having a healthy theology of leisure). Choosing to relinquish control over 'my' time enriched our marriage and taught me to find my satisfaction in Christ - not in my freedoms, preferences and desires.

"Well," some may say, "at least my extra money that I worked so hard to earn - money left over after paying bills etc. - at least that is mine to do whatever I want with - mine to control..." As a Christian, can you truly say that? Even our money is a gift from above. Is it truly 'mine' or is God trying to use me as a vessel - to bring this material blessing into someone else's life?

Again, I must say that when we relinquish control of every area of life and trust Jesus to meet our needs, we will find deep satisfaction in Him and release from the burdens that come with control. If I must control every aspect of my life, from how I eat, to how I use time, to how I use money, then if I am unhappy or dissatisfied, I bear the weight of responsibility for my displeasure. But if I have given complete control to God, I am free from such burdens! Will He disappoint me? He beckons me to find my complete satisfaction in Him - am I willing?

Do I think that if I maintain control in just one area of my life, that I'll be happier - more satisfied? How foolish of me if I do! My view of God must be minute if I cannot even trust Him to fill me up inside, to minister to my deepest needs.

Have you discovered areas of your life that need His control? Do you feel a weight of responsibility for your own happiness and satisfaction in life? Why not pray with me now the following prayer?

"O Lord, You are the Great God Who created the Universe! In Your wisdom You have placed me here for a time. I confess that I have such a twisted view of things. So often I think I'm the center of the universe and think my happiness should be a priority. I confess that I so easily take the reigns of my life and try so hard to steer it where I want it to go. Please release me Lord from this huge burden of control. I now surrender to You - take the reigns of my life and fill me with You - fill me with joy in Your presence. Lord, I now trust You for all that is to come. I place now into Your hands all that I am, all that I have, and all that I hope to be. May I be willing to relinquish control to You in every area of my life, even when this means surrendering to the will of another.
Forgive me I pray. Help me to live as Your child, content in Your presence. I love You my Saviour, my dearest Friend.
In Jesus' worthy name - for Your glory I ask these things, Amen."

A song we used to sing in Hong Kong went like this:
"Father I place into Your hands the things that I can't do,
Father I place into Your hands the times that I've been through,
Father I place into Your hands the way that I should go,
For I know I always can trust You."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Year Ago Today I nearly lost my son

Image
 You can see that writing for me has ground to a screeching halt (probably literally, in the literal, not figurative, sense). It happened a year ago on this day, one day after Timo's 17th birthday. One year ago on this night, it was a night like any other. Routine. Normal. Kids doing kid things. Caleb and Priscilla back in their first couple weeks of college, away from us. Timo working his full-time tree-trimming job. He had just had a nasty incident with a wasps nest that had caused his entire arm to swell and had to spend a day in bed with fever and chills. He had so many stings we couldn't count them. He was on the mend from that. He had been back at work just a day or two, and the night before we had taken him to an all-you-can-eat dinner which he enjoyed with us - laughing and choosing his favorite foods - mostly meat. We were doing okay. I always carry my own melancholy, and hold a world within me, a reflective, prayerful, yearning. So a year ago, I suppose life was as st
Read more

The Cry of a Mother's Heart

Image
  For Previous post, click here At this time last year I had sat up all night, driven the hour to Chicago, wondering if my child - man-child, but still child - would be alive to greet me on the other side. The moments in the E.R. were stunning, shocking, bewildering. I barely spoke a word. When it was almost time to move him to the helipad, I stood by Timo and stroked his head. In the previous few years he had not been very conversant with me. (Parents who have never had teenage boys: this is normal, not a sign of distress, but a development where they want to make their own way in life. This is not to say they don't need us, and our input - they do, but the dynamics change). I often overstepped bounds with him, and frustrated him. I tried to give him space, but there were times my fears took over. Our relationship was not strained - he knew I loved him, he knew my care for him. But Mothers are often not easy for teenage boys. There's hardly a way around that. We birthed them.
Read more

I Continue the Telling of this past year (part 2}...

Image
For previous post, click here   The second night in hospital was worse than the first. The first night I was so shocked, stunned, almost disbelieving. It was a strange reality. The second night the anxiety storm kicked in and I was caught in the vortex. Not only was I up all night to keep him breathing, but fear overtook me. I worried about money - how we would cover all the medical bills we were racking up. I worried about Timo's recovery - his pain, his health, his rest, his soul. I worried about me. I run a depression-soul-fever in general; how could I possibly take on the round the clock care of a 17 year old who doesn't want help with anything?  As we encountered nurse after nurse and checked in with each doctor, they queried Timo about his life. Through a number of ups and downs, Timo had decided he would move on from high school and embark on working full-time and pursuing trade school, and possibly some community college classes in plumbing and welding. He had just foun
Read more