being in control

I've seen a few people lately whose lives are completely and totally out of control. They just can't hold it in the road. They cannot change the paths they are on because they follow any new wind of desire looking for the next thrill. They are then off on a destructive journey which inevitably leads them back to revisit those all too familiar detrimental places that always made them feel comfortable before.

They go from bad to worse with dire consequences from which there seems to be no escape. After a while they feel compelled to follow these ever worsening winds of change. Lying, stealing, drugs, even intense anger help them momentarily forget the pig pen of disaster they live in. They've lost hope and any inkling of how to remove themselves from their pit of despair. They are at the mercy of whatever sounds good at the time. It's a heartbreaking place to barely exist.

There have also been times in my own life when control was the last thing I had a good grip on. Questions arose for which I had no answers. Things happened I couldn't change. Family and friends got sick and I couldn't make them well. It was different in some ways, but I, too, did not have control of what was happening. I wasn't calling the shots. I couldn't make anything go the way I wanted it to go. I wanted to make it all better. I wanted to do something to help--to fix it--to change it, but it wasn't going to happen, and despite all my good wishes and hopes for the future, I felt totally useless.

The answer to both these scenarios is simple, really. Each situation requires the same action for remedy: relinquishment of the reins of our lives to God. Whether we're talking about being bound by sin and addiction or by our own powerlessness to effect change, we need God to do the work! We must make ourselves vulnerable, pliable in His hand. He is the potter. We are the clay. Without Him, we can do nothing.

"My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become."

2 Corinthians 12:9-10

I pray for those I know who are slaves to their own desires and addictions and I am still working on relinquishing my so-called control to the Lord's hand. I am finding rest in letting the Lord take the lead. It is a job that is way too big for me and I'm learning to love the freedom that comes with letting go!

Father, Thank you for taking me up and being my strength. Help me to trust you more fully every day. Help those I love who are totally out of control in their own ways. Only you can save us and make us whole. I love you utterly.

Suz