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Learning To Give God Control
People like to be in control of their own lives. We like to make our own decisions about where we live, what we do for a living, what we eat, how to spend our money, what we wear, who we want to marry, and so many things relative to how we live our lives. Much of this desire for control comes from the fact that we just trust ourselves to have our best interests at heart. However, the life of a Christian is one that yields to God (Luke 9:23-26)! Therefore, Christians must learn what it means to surrender control to God.
Jeremiah 18:1-12
Like the nation of Judah, you must embrace that you are clay in the hands of the sovereign God. What God will make you into will be determined on the basis of how willing you are to be molded by the Potter. Unfortunately, rather than just allowing God to mold your life as the Potter molds the clay into whatever He desires, perhaps you insist on input. Perhaps you want to “veto” what God wants to do with your life and think you should be able to amend His decisions rather than humbly submitting to Him. Yet, you must keep perspective that you are like clay (made from the dust, Genesis 2:7; Job 10:9) and God is like a Master Potter. You have no right to tell the God of the universe how He should do things or what would be best for your life (Isaiah 29:16; 45:9)! He knows far better than you do and you must surrender to Him!
Psalm 23:1-6
Like the psalmist, you should declare that Jehovah God is your Shepherd. Not everyone will be a sheep in God’s flock and follow Him as their Shepherd (Matthew 25:31-33). Although this declaration places full trust in God as your Shepherd, this is not blind trust. Rather, God has repeatedly demonstrated Himself as the Good Shepherd, even laying down His life down for the sheep (John 10:11-15)! So, you can be confident that He will only lead you down the right paths. But, your trust in God as your Shepherd should extend even to the moments when there is great uncertainty from an earthly perspective (i.e. through the deepest, darkest valleys). If you just follow God when He leads you by the quiet waters and not when He leads you through the darkest valleys, you do not really trust Him like you should and have not yielded your life to Him! Instead, you must embrace that He is the only one properly equipped and fully trustworthy to lead, protect, and, ultimately, save your soul!
Romans 8:12-17
As a Christian, you are a child of God and must consider yourself as being dependent on God as your Father. Unlike many earthly fathers that often fail and betray this trust, you must see God as the Father He truly is. He is one who is always focused on your wellbeing (even in greatly sacrificial ways), who will never leave or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5-6)! Then, see God as the Father who rescued you through adoption from your terrible and abusive father, Satan (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8-10). This image of God as your loving and devoted Father should encourage you to embrace God as being wise far beyond your knowledge and wisdom (Romans 11:33-36) so that you will humbly trust in Him (Matthew 18:1-4). If you act like an arrogant and rebellious child who pursues your own ways, God will let you wander into the ruin of sin (Luke 15:11-32; Proverbs 1:20-33). But, if you trust in Him above all as your Father, He will never let you down, will always lead you right, and will reward you with eternal life in Heaven (1 Peter 1:3-9)!
Romans 6:15-23
Imagine living in a world in which you were going to be a slave and it was just a matter of what kind of master you would have, whether one that is good or one that is wicked. Paul uses this imagery to help you appreciate the opportunity you have to serve Jesus and righteousness. Whenever you submit yourself to Jesus as your King and Master, you submit to one who loves you and leads you in ways that result in eternal spiritual life (as He gave Himself to die for you). Yet, when you give yourself to live for your own desires, you serve the master of sin (Satan), which leads to eternal spiritual death! Therefore, you must come to see King Jesus as the only Master who will set you free from the sin and death you deserve so that you can experience the eternal life He desires to give you! However, you can only receive the blessings of this Master if you give Him control over your life so as to be obedient to His teaching.
Proverbs 3:5-7
God’s people have always had the challenge of learning to trust Jehovah God above everything and everyone else (including trust in yourself). The images we have been considering should help you embrace that He is far more qualified and capable of properly directing your steps than you are! In fact, you must humble yourself to the point of recognizing the absolute mess you have made of your life whenever you have tried to direct your own way (Proverbs 14:12; Jeremiah 10:23)! Therefore, you must trust that only God has the knowledge and wisdom required to lead you in the ways that are always right, true, and spiritually beneficial. Only when you trust God so completely will you yield everything about your life to Him by obeying whatever He says in the pages of the Bible (Hebrews 11:6; James 1:19-27)!
Conclusion
You must evaluate who/what is in control of your life to direct your steps. If it is not God leading you through the teachings of His word in the Bible, you are not on the path that leads to eternal life in Heaven and you will experience great destruction when the other things fail (Matthew 7:24-27)! Therefore, you must surrender control of your own life to God, recognizing that He is the only one truly capable of directing your steps – far above anyone/anything else!