BY AMY WALTON |
First things first: We are control freaks.
Yes, you and I–whether we want to admit it or not–love to be in control. We want to manipulate the outcome of certain events or control specific people. We get anxious boarding a boat or even riding in a car when someone else is driving. Severe turbulence on an airplane occasionally hits a spot in me where I want to take control… as if I know anything (I know nothing!) about flying. We dread the day when we’re a certain age and our adult children broach the “Should you still be driving?” conversation.
Control, control, control…
I’m always reminding coaching clients that we cannot control results. We may set our goals and put forth our best effort, but we cannot determine the outcome.
I want to ask you and myself a question: Are we fully trusting God with our lives, every single aspect of them?
In one of recent my Christ-centered yoga classes, I focused on TRUSTING God. The feedback from my students confirmed I had chosen a topic with which most people struggle. We all needed that session!
There are many areas of my life in which I absolutely do not worry. There’s full trust. I try to go back to the words of the well-known Serenity Prayer and really think about what I can and cannot change. In other parts of my life, I am still challenged and am working to cultivate full trust.
Photo by Léonard Cotte via Unsplash.com
One of the scriptures I used in my yoga class is a familiar one: Proverbs 3:5-6. Here is a breakdown of those verses with some thoughts and questions:
TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART: What does it mean to you to trust God with ALL your heart, not some of it? What does it mean to trust Him in ALL areas of your life? Think about that. Think about it long and hard. Are you trusting Him with your health? Your marriage and relationships? Your work? Your finances?
We DO have influence over most areas of our lives. We try to eat a balanced diet, and we exercise to create better health. We nurture our marriages and relationships through deep conversations, date nights and outings, and even counseling. We spend quality time with our children and engage them in life-giving conversations. We do our best at work and try to be respectfully pro-active when there are issues. We budget, save, invest, and trust a good financial advisor with our money. BUT…
We can’t control the outcomes.
Are you doing your best in all areas of your life and trusting God with the rest?
…AND LEAN NOT ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING: This verse piggybacks on and reinforces the previous verse. We often think we are so smart. We think no one else can do our job, whether that “job” is our paid work, volunteer work, taking care of children, or doing a minor home repair,
Repeat: We are control freaks, and we usually aren’t as smart as we think we are. We can always learn more, and we can’t even begin to fathom the mind of God.
IN ALL YOUR WAYS SUBMIT TO HIM: Read that verse again. It doesn’t say “in a few of your ways” or “in some of your ways.” It says, “ALL of your ways.”
Take a bird’s eye view of your life. Think about where you go besides work. Think about your online behavior (especially with social media). Are you being mindful of Him? Do you tap into His presence? If an invisible person could see inside your mind or your online habits or just the way you live your life, would they think you are walking your talk? God knows I have failed miserably in this area countless times, and I’d bet you have, too. We’re human. Still, we need to really ponder that verse and our lives, thoughts, and actions.
…AND HE WILL MAKE YOUR PATHS STRAIGHT: If we want God to lead us, to make our paths straight, we must trust with our whole heart, with ALL of it (I know… it’s not easy, and often it’s REALLY hard). We don’t lean on our own finite brains or our self-inflated egos. We acknowledge God in all our ways… ALL of them.
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On a recent morning, I was meditating on a beloved Moravian hymn whose words were penned by Count Zinzendorf, that man of noble birth and great wealth who sought to serve the Lord with ALL his heart. Many lines in “Jesus, Still Lead On” speak so strongly to me of trusting God:
And, although the way be cheerless, we will follow calm and fearless…
Let no faithless fear o’ertake us…
Let not faith and hope forsake us…
Heav’nly leader, still direct us…
TRUST… pure and simple trust, just like a tiny baby.
Perhaps the next time we sing that old hymn, we should approach it with a few areas of our lives where we need to cultivate greater trust in God.
As we all journey forth in our lives, let’s try to let go a bit, doing our best and giving God the rest.
Loosen up. Relax. Do your best. Let go. Let no faithless fear overtake you.
He has our backs. Always has.
But we have to TRUST.
About the author
Amy Walton is a certified life coach, certified Christian life coach, speaker, and writer who has lived in coastal Virginia for nearly 30 years. A native of Mayodan, North Carolina, she was baptized, confirmed, and raised in Mayodan Moravian Church, where she remains an Associate Member. Connect with her at www.HolyGrounding.com or [email protected].
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