Losing Control

Losing Control -( A reflection on a chapter from Love Walked Among Us by Paul Miller).

This is one of my on-going life issues; I don’t like the fact that I am really in control of nothing. I want to trust in my own abilities to fix things and control things, but what a foolish place to be. When we hear someone say, “I’m losing control” we usually know that this isn’t considered a good thing. We know the person saying it feels as if life is out of his/her hands and out of his/her capabilities to handle and it is.
If we heard someone say, “I do nothing on my own. I can only do what I see my dad doing” and we asked people to tell us about the character of the person speaking, we would say: he is girly , weak, codependent, not mentally stable, etc.
If we asked believers to describe Jesus, we would get words like: the good shepherd, savior, King, lion of Judah, sinless, powerful, kind, etc. Now we might be amazed to look at Christ words: John 5:19, 30 19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does./ John 5:30 30By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. (Message-So Jesus explained himself at length. "I'm telling you this straight. The Son can't independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. John 5:30-I can't do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I'm not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. If I were simply speaking on my own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness. But an independent witness confirms me, the most reliable Witness of all. Furthermore, you all saw and heard John, and he gave expert and reliable testimony about me, didn't he?)
In our natural state, we see this kind of dependence as not good for a person, but this is the dependence Christ calls us to have on Christ/God. We must see our dependence on Christ as the source of power to do God’s will, not as a liability or as a constant reminder of a list of things we can’t do. We have to see that Christ fixes our inadequacies when we focus on Him and His power, so ...... becoming dependant is a good thing.
Look at the story of Christ and the storm in Mark 4:35-41 On that day, when evening had come, He told them, "Let's cross over to the other side [of the lake]." 36 So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was [already] in the boat. And other boats were with Him. 37 A fierce windstorm arose, and the waves (were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, "Teacher! Don't you care that we're going to die?" 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Silence! Be still!" The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then He said to them, "Why are you fearful? (Do you still have no faith?" 41 And they were terrified and asked one another, "Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

Notice that in verse 38 they are in essence saying , “Are you at least going to wake up and help us bail?” They were looking at Christ as a partner, not to Christ as their LORD. They recognized him as a great prophet but didn’t quite get that He had control over huge storms with one word. They looked for an equal, a partner, not someone who could master the whole situation. Boy, how I still do that! I want God to partner with me in making my life better, with each of us having equal control. However, I must realized following Christ means losing total control (as if I had it anyway). We can’t look at our circumstances, talents, friends, careers and so on to give us power. Christ is where we must keep our eyes. He will meet what we really need in ways we can’t even imagine.
Are you looking for Christ to bail your sinking boat when He is about to destroy the storm that is causing your boat to sink in the first place? Remember who is really in control and in whom we should trust, then choose to cooperate. How often we say we don’t want to lose control of our lives, yet we know we need to have a Savior/ LORD. Who will you trust today? … Hebrews 12: 1-3 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
The race continues…