Releasing Control
We were invited to a wedding in San Diego. When my husband heard about it, he said, “We’re going to drive, right?” I replied, “No, we’re going to fly.” As the days drew closer, my husband kept insisting that he wanted to drive. Now, driving from Sacramento to San Diego takes about ten hours, and I wasn’t looking forward to it, especially since we had free tickets and could fly. The flight would have taken just an hour and thirty minutes. But my husband wanted to stop along the way to visit some friends. Although I wasn’t kicking and screaming, I made it clear that I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of driving.
It’s interesting how we think we’ve fully surrendered control to God until a situation arises where we want to control the outcome to best fit what we want. Through this trip, I learned that what I thought was best for me wasn’t actually right. We ended up having an amazing time driving. We chatted the whole way, listened to Bible teachings together, and discussed them. We stopped whenever we wanted, bought snacks, and I even reclined my seat and took a nap. It was so much fun and incredibly relaxing—nothing like I had imagined. The drive didn’t feel long at all. At some point during the trip, I thanked my husband for choosing to drive and admitted that I had been wrong. The drive turned out to be the best thing for us, and we had a fabulous time together.
Scripture says, “Man makes his plans, but God directs our path.” Many times, when God is guiding us, it doesn’t align with our plans. Our plans usually don’t match up with God’s path, so when he takes control, we’re tempted to resist or complain. I believe it’s a test to see if we’ve truly surrendered to him. When we’ve genuinely let go, we’re adaptable and don’t complain.
David is a perfect example of surrendering control. When King Saul was chasing him to take his life, God gave David several opportunities to kill Saul, but David refused to harm him. He was content to trust that God would fight his battle. David had fully surrendered control to God (1 Samuel 24-31). When we say, “I surrender, Lord. Not my will, but yours be done,” you can be assured, God will test us. Often, it’s in the simplest moments that the test comes. Your boss might say, “Let’s take the stairs,” but you prefer the elevator. “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21, ESV).
Key points:
Pay attention to the agitation of the heart. It may be that you are fighting to control.
Be adaptable without complaint to God’s direction.
God always knows best, release.
Affirmations: Matthew 10:20; Luke 24:32; Ephesians 6:19, Isaiah 55:11
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