Have You Taken Back Control?

I was on the floor crying out to God when He made me aware I had taken control. I asked how because in my mind every time I prayed I was giving that control to God. But I did not realize that my actions and my stress levels were indication that I was taking control. We can sit down and say I give it to God, but are we still worried or stressed? Are you still trying to figure out plans that you can incorporate? Are you asking God if these are the plans that you should walk through with?

When God wants us to depend on him he wants all of us to depend on him. He’s not looking for just a part of us or considerations here and there. He wants all of it. Jesus understood that every step of the way for any plan to work, he needed God‘s approval every step of the way. Jesus was baptized first in a moment when his identity was confirmed by the Holy Spirit. Then he fasted for forty days before he began his ministry. He would often step away for prayer before returning with his plans. He needed to hear what God wanted.

We need to get into the habit of understanding that God wants to pour into us. God wants to share a beautiful amazing plan with us that will succeed despite what it looks like on the journey. When we thought Jesus was failing, he had actually won! We think we are failing, but we don’t know that we have actually won. God takes anything and everything in our lives for our good. We are anointed for victory. Sometimes the thing we are crying about turns out to be our cross moment. A part of us is dying as we leave behind failed relationships, businesses that ended, lessons in life that change us and grow us for the better.

Our expectation for how things should go is the first thing we need to release. The control of the outcome. When our expectations are not met it scares us, worries us or upsets us. That is the control that we don’t see. This transitions into the fear of failure. But if we could just understand that no matter what happens in our lives, it is always going to work out. As I stated before. In the Bible, it was Joseph who after being sold by his brothers, falsely accused, imprisoned all before his rise, was able to tell his brothers that all of it was meant for his good.

So no matter what you’re walking through. Remind yourself not to be afraid. Remind yourself not to panic because all of this is going to work out for your good. Fear is a bus that runs on its own if we let it. Which makes it the number one reason we take control. Fear gives birth to worry, jealousy, anxiety, anger, stress, frustration, etc..

"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV

And that is the truth. God never lets us go for one second. He already knows how it’s going to end. So it makes more sense to let Him drive than us who can barely see what is in front of us. He knows what we need. He knows which way to go. He sees the sense in the nonsense.

In 2 Kings 5, we meet Naaman who is the commander of a huge army. He is already a man who wields a lot of control. However, he suffers from leprosy. A young girl tells him to go see Prophet Elisha in Samaria because he could heal him. However, when Elisha told Naaman to dip himself in the Jordan River seven times to be healed Naaman was very skeptical. Not just skeptical, he was angry.

"But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage." (2Kings 5:11-12)

Sound familiar? His expectations almost cost him his healing. If it wasn't for those around him.

"Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy." (2 Kings 5:13-14)

Control can take time for us to see, but there are indications that we can look for.

• Stress and fear rising

• Neglecting prayer before decisions

• Anger at the expectations

• Refusing to let a situation go

• Ignoring scripture and looking for answers elsewhere

• Compromising your standards for your desired outcome

Allow God‘s peace to fill your heart and fully trust that He will save you. He will handle it in the way that is best. We are not throwing caution to the wind and hoping for the best. We are handing the reigns to our Heavenly Father knowing it will be for the best. God loves you. God knows you. All things are working for your good.