"Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5
As I see it, there are really only two options for us. You can either be in the center of your will for your life, or you can be in the center of God’s will for your life. Control is all about you being at the center of your will for your life. Trust and Surrender is about you being at the center of God’s will for your life.
Many of us are worried and anxious because you are serving the idol of control. And God says it’s time to trust. What is the difference between control & trust?
There is a vast difference between control and trust. Trust leads you gently by the hand. Control grabs your hand as if there is no tomorrow. Trust is not motivated by fear, but control is highly motivated by fear. Trust lays worries to the side, while control is fueled by anxiety. Trust puts its confidence in a Higher one. Control puts all of its confidence in you - in your limited, finite, mortal capacity. Trust knows that difficult nights are a part of the lot of our lives - control is paralyzed by even the slightest difficulty. Trust is not anxious, but hopeful, because a greater Day will come. Control is both anxious and hopeless with respect to tomorrow.
The antidote to a life of believing you are in control is a life of trust. It is trusting, and surrendering. It is putting your complete hope and confidence in the one who has always taken care of you, and who will continue to take care of you. It is putting your future in his hands. It is being willing to say “Wherever, whatever, however Lord... I want to be in the center of Your will, not in the center of mine.” It is not worrying about the shallow beauty of a corner office, when eternity is waiting for us. It is believing that seeking first the Kingdom will always give us something better than what we could give ourselves.
What is my encouragement to you today? Renew your mind through truths of trust. Trust not in your capacity to control. Trust only in God’s ability to control. Surrender your life, and your dreams, to Jesus. Trust in Him, and lean not on your own understanding.