CAUTION Control
Full tank, good tires, favorite road trip snack, and Jesus! What’s Better? You got the keys and ready to go. Only, you don’t know where you are going. You have no idea what road you are taking, what the weather will be, where the rest areas or the nearest chick-fil-A’s are. Oh, and if you don’t know where you are going, how do you use a GPS or map? Thank goodness you have Jesus as your Co-Pilot, right? Although, Jesus has said that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, that He would lead you through, you insist on driving. Yes, road trip with Jesus. Being the Creator of Free Will, He lets you drive. You are doing pretty good, but you don’t know where you are driving to, what your purpose in driving is. You think to pull over to ask for directions, but you don’t know what to ask. So you think it will be fine and you are just going for a joy ride and when you see it you will know. Jesus then says, I know where you want to go and I know how to get you there, but you still insist. THEN out of NO WHERE (in the middle of no where) you hit a massive wall right smack in the middle of the road, how could you not have seen this!?! Jesus makes sure you are okay, no broken bones, cars good, and says I know every rock and tree, every crack in the concrete, I will get you there. You just have to trust me. You think on it and then you begin to let Him drive……sort of. Y’all are cruising nicely, you hit some rain showers but nothing God can’t handle. You tell God be careful, turn here, turn there, yelling at traffic, and blaming God that He’s the one that took the wrong turn. God pulls over and asks if you want the keys back. You said sure and you carry on with Jesus. DO YOU THINK YOU WILL GET TO WHERE YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING?
Now think about this in life. You have no idea which relationships are good or bad, you don’t know what job you will have, or what school you will go to, or who you will marry, or why certain kids in your classroom act a certain way or what to do for them. BUT YOU WANT CONTROL ANYWAY.
The Original Sin
God knows everything, and I mean everything! He also cares about you and your hearts desires. A friend recently reminded me, after all He puts those desires in your heart. He knows every detail of our lives and our destinations throughout, so why is it He’s the last person we turn to, to drive the car. It’s simple really, we like control. We always have. Here’s the very first time, (and definitely not the last) we wanted control:
“The woman (Eve) was convinced (after being tempted by Satan to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil). She saw that the tree was beautiful and its fruits looked delicious, and she wanted the wisdom it would give her. So she took some of the fruit and ate it.” Genesis 3:6 NLT with my context
To give context to this passage in case you may not know the story, Adam and Eve were the first two people on Earth. They knew God and walked with him everyday, very closely. God told them to tend the Garden of Eden and eat of its food, except for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Of course Satan wants to destroy the peace and harmony that God shared with them so he came in and told Eve to eat the fruit. BUT the main point is EVE wanted control, she wanted the wisdom of God. She took matters into her own hands to have only what God was meant to have. This is the same sin that got Satan kicked out of Heaven, he wanted to be in control and wanted to be God. There are many examples in the Bible where people went their own way and it didn’t go well. BUT GOD, (some of my favorite words) comes in and graces the place up.
The Grumpy Teacher
This passed school year, I got married to the most wonderful man in the World. Who is caring and Sweet, smart and thoughtful, silly, and God loving, the list goes on. On top of that, he has a really cool last name, Rex. Now when my named changed, one of my students called me a grumpy teacher because I was like a stomping T-Rex and that the name was a good fit. She did not tell this to my face. But when I was told it made me mad, ironic right. But if you think about it, a first grader was pretty clever and funny to think of this name. However, it’s not the name you want. So I began to reflect. Was I really that grumpy? Why? It took me a while to figure out but as I look back, it all came down to control. I wanted to control my students behavior and couldn’t, I wanted to control what my principals and teammates thought of me and couldn’t, I wanted to control time and everything that went on in my classroom and couldn’t, I wanted CONTROL and couldn’t have it. This was every day in the classroom and it made me frustrated. You may think this sounds familiar, you may think I need some calming techniques, but really I need Jesus.
All on the same page
If we had to pick a year where our control and lack of it would be tested, it would be 2020. At the beginning, we all had high hopes. The roaring 20s again, etc. Then COVID. Really that’s all I have to say and your brain goes straight to the plans that got cancelled, the graduation that didn’t happen, the trips you can’t take, the weddings that had to be pushed back, fill in the blank. So you get what frustration feels like when you lose control. We are on the same page. God placed on my heart to write this post after considering many people are frustrated for more reasons than COVID. Whether it be politics, weather, disease, injustice, etc. In these past 6-7 months, there has been so much Josiah and I haven’t been able to control, car trouble, school trouble, job trouble, etc. And when we think we have the control and its working out, something falls and when Josiah and I (really just I) gets mad. Really, God is working behind the scenes for our good.
Grace, Grace, God’s Grace
In all reality, its hard not to want control. Very Hard. Giving control over to God isn’t easy and He often does what we would not want. However, it is by God’s grace that He didn’t want us to know about Good and Evil, what death was, what war was, what hatred was. Just like most parents would love for their child to go through life not knowing what hate feels like or people not liking them, but we live in a broken world. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, where our road will lead, the people we will meet, or the final stop sign. But we can trust the One and Only who does, Jesus. We can know and Trust Jesus.
Frustrated?
These questions are designed to get you thinking about what you want to control the most and what you should give to the Lord. I encourage you to think on it or jot down some notes and thoughts.
- What/Who are you frustrated at? Why?
- What do you want to change?
- Are you frustrated at yourself?
- When was the last time you prayed about this thing or person?
- Why is it hard to give it to God? What are you not believing about His Goodness?
I hope you have seen the graces that God has given you today.
—LOVE, Amber