The Illusion of Control

I received a distress call from someone this week and as I sat there listening to them, I continuously heard a pattern in what they were saying.

“If I could control it I would be so much more comfortable.”

“I’m more comfortable and at peace when I’m in control.”

“It’s scary when I’ve done all I can do and now it’s in God’s hands.”

“When I’m in the car with [someone else] I’m nervous because [they’re] in the driver’s seat and I’m not in control. I have to trust [them] to safely get me to where I need to go.”

How many of us have ever said something like this or have had similar thoughts? Maybe you aren’t as honest with yourself about it and disguise it in such a way that you’ve even deceived yourself. With some of us our desire for control is more obvious and with others it’s much more subtle, but at some point in time just about all of us have dealt with the illusion of control. Why illusion? Because just when you think you have it is when you realize that you really don’t.

My children shake their heads at me all the time because while most people go to the movies for pure entertainment purposes, I go with a notebook and a pen – fully expecting to take something away that I can apply to my everyday life. One of the easiest movies to do this with is Kung Fu Panda. Yes, the animated “children’s movie.” I’m telling you, wisdom can be found in every scene!

One of my favorite scenes was when the one who was called to train the army fearfully ran to the one with the wisdom, only to hear what he did not want to hear. “The panda will never fulfill his destiny nor you yours until you let go of the illusion of control.” And the more the trainer attempted to prove his ability to maintain control, the more wisdom revealed that he could not. The more he felt he needed help gaining control, the more it was revealed that what he really needed was simply to believe.

So often we try to control the situations, circumstances, and outcomes of our lives. Then, when we’re afraid it may not turn out the way we wanted, we run to God to try to get Him to help us to control the situation. And I’m sure more often than not, we leave those conversations with a reminder that we’re not in control and that we have to believe that God will do what He said He would do.

We have to train ourselves to be comfortable with God being in control. We have to trust Him to be in the driver’s seat of our lives and to safely get us to where He knows we need to go. We have to truly believe that we are safest when our lives are in God’s hands and not our own. The sooner you let go of the illusion of control, the sooner you and those you’re called to will be able to start fulfilling your destiny.

Questions to Ask

·      What aspect of your life are you trying to control yourself?

·      In what ways have you deceived yourself into believing God is in control when you’re actually the one in the driver’s seat of your life?

·      What do you think your life would be like if you really placed it completely in God’s hands?

Scriptures to Study

·      Jeremiah 29:11

·      Proverbs 1:31

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