It’s like a riddle:
For those who desperately pursue it,
It’s fleeting.
For those who can’t escape it,
It’s oppressive.
For those who are subject to it,
It’s resented.
Alas, all seek it and only One truly has it.
Yes, it’s a riddle that plays out in many different ways over and over again throughout our lives: The alcoholics who are certain they can manage just a few drinks; the people who are bound by the confines of organization, routine, and cleanliness; the employees whose hours and paychecks are determined by a miserly boss. And how many other ways we struggle with … CONTROL! My friend who has suffered a failed marriage, a lawsuit ending in a job change, and breast cancer recently told me, “I’m confident everything will be all right once I learn to manage my life better.” Control. And when we think we are in control? Wow! We are on top of the world. All is well, and we made it happen: the promotion and much deserved respect at work, the generally happy marriage, the well-behaved and talented kids, the exceptional house ready for the cookout with friends. Control.
In order to evaluate the heart idol of control, Tim Keller suggests completing this sentence: “Life only has meaning/I only have worth if I am able to get mastery over my life in the area of _________.” (1) Control idolatry is when we seek to derive our self-worth and meaning from life by focusing our energies on mastering something rather than from abiding in Christ. So, how do we avoid getting caught in the control riddle of life? I think we need to ask ourselves the following two questions: 1) If we are not in control then who is? and 2) Should we try to control anything in our lives?
God is in control of every aspect of existence. The first words of the Bible in Genesis 1:1-3 state, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” The chapter goes on to describe how God spoke the splendor of the galaxies, the depths of the oceans, creatures, and man into existence. This is a God who is in control of all creation! The Bible also shows that God is sovereign over His creation. In Isaiah, the prophet tells us of a man named Cyrus that does not know the Lord but will be used by Him to free the Jews from Babylon and restore Judah. Isaiah 45:6-7 says, “That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord who does all these things.” Not only does God anoint, guide, bless, and use a man who did not even acknowledge Him, but God allows good and the perversion of good (evil) to accomplish His eternal purposes (2). This prophesy comforted a people in captivity during their darkest hours until the prophesy was fulfilled almost 200 years later (Ezra 1:1-3), reminding and reassuring them that their God is in control of every aspect of their existence (3). God’s providence not only applies across time and space, but also to the careful details of creation. In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus says,
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.”
The Creator of everything cares for the details of all life in equal regard to His care of the cosmos without change or waiver (Hebrew 13:8) despite my personal sin and desire for control. How reassuring! How comforting! What freedom! Our God is in complete control of all existence, from the stars in the sky to the blades of grass in the field. This includes taking hold of our weak human hand and telling us not to be afraid because He will help us (Isaiah 41:13). He meets us in our sin and desire for control and knows our every need. He says in Jeremiah 29:11, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.’” The Lord God, creator of heaven and Earth, is in complete and total control of all existence including the circumstances of our lives.
If God is in control of everything, including the details of my life, does that mean that I should stop trying to control anything in my life? No. The Bible tells us that our God is good and loves us (Psalm 136:1), He created us for a purpose (Ephesians 2:10), and He calls us to action. In Luke 11:9, Jesus tells us to ask, seek, and knock. James 1:22 tells us to “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.” While God is clearly in control, we are called to live a self-controlled life of purpose, making choices in word and deed that glorify God. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 and Hebrews 12:1, Paul compares life to running a race. We are called to run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us and to exercise self-control in all things. Our Creator God, who knew us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5), has set the race before us. It is our purpose, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to develop a steady and patient pace. Rick Warren describes self-controlled people as those who master their moods, watch their words, restrain their reactions, stick to their schedule, manage their money, and maintain their health (4). These are elements of the riddle that we juggle daily. We are all too aware, though, that it takes more than willpower to attain any amount of self-control. It takes power greater than ourselves - power from the One who is ultimately in control: “For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).” We are called to take action, drawing on the Holy Spirit to live with self-controlled purpose.
There is freedom in knowing that God is in total control. Even though our sinful hearts continuously want to garner worth and meaning from mastering our circumstances, God’s desire is for us abide in Him and glorify Him by drawing on the Holy Spirit to develop self-control in all we do and say. I encourage you to join me in praying to God for the ability to let go of our desire for control and live a life of freedom in Christ. And that He may teach us how to draw on the Holy Spirit to develop daily self-control that causes us to run the race of life in a manner that will glorify Him.
In Him,
Susan