CONTROL
Being in control of one’s life is an essential element to maintaining sanity. Sure, there are hundreds of variables to this truth…but the fact remains: If we are to face all that life throws at us on a daily basis, we need to own the reality that our choices are our choices; our decisions are our decisions. While some may be more passive and others more type A, we’re all in the same responsibility boat in the end.
Perhaps this is why many people struggle with the concept and reality of salvation. Making the choice to believe in Jesus Christ and accepting His free gift is, of course, the fundamental element to choosing our eternity. The verification, though, that we were sincere in that choice is what follows. Repenting is more than acknowledging our sin and having regret for our past conduct…it is an actual turning away from those ways and habits. This is where it goes against our human grain of giving up control.
While on one hand the very act of turning over our natural sin nature to a saving God is comforting; this very act also requires we relinquish who we are as a sinful creation. This can be very unsettling even when we realize what we are gaining. It’s all about control and that inborn need to not simply be a puppet or pawn in life.
I am, by nature, a pretty passive person. I can go with the flow under most any circumstance and it takes some pretty hard hitting events for me to become confrontational. People in this category tend to hand over control a bit easier than more assertive personalities. In my case, giving up control came all too easy with alcohol.
Growing up it was modeled for me that drinking was a staple and standard for how adults dealt with life. As a teenager I took up that model and ran with it. By the time I was thirty I had surrendered most of my decision-making capabilities to the numbing influence that alcohol provided. By the pure grace of God and the guts of a woman who refused to settle for my actions, that is thankfully behind me now.
It’s very interesting when my wife and I discuss the whole dynamic of drinking. She doesn’t enjoy drinking because she hates the feeling of not being in control while, in contrast, that was the very reason I enjoyed it so much. In the end reality came crashing down that I couldn’t continue to be anesthetized from all my choices and decisions in life.
Control is a pretty wily creature. It makes you and breaks you all at the same time. Ironically, the need for control is as much a controlling influence as anything can be. If not put in its proper place it can drive us to a very unhappy life. This is why we need God and His omniscient character. Our human nature allows us to be too easily affected by situations and we need a divine guiding hand to keep our lives in the proper control.
Greg Morton
Copyright © November 2014
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