The Greatest Of All Illusions
We’re in a series entitled Faith, Hope & Love at Cross Point where we’ve been looking at how God uses our faith to increase our intimacy and trust with Him. As usual I’ve found myself in the middle of struggling with the very topic I’m in the midst of teaching about.
I’ve got a situation that is driving me absolutely crazy.
I want answers.
I want explanations.
I want guarantees.
I want control.
And yet what God wants is for me to simply trust Him.
Over the past two days I’ve felt God saying, “Pete, take your hands off of this. Stop trying to control and maintain what you cannot control and maintain.”
I bet there are a lot of you who are just like me. We have fallen victim to faithless lives because we’ve bought into the illusion of control.
And control IS the greatest of all illusions.
32 Comments:
I say to God all the time “take this” and then somewhere along the way I pull and pull because I think I can do it better or I am afraid of His outcome..and yet I end up on my face asking God why?..I think about when my kids were learning to ride their bikes and my husband would hold the back of their seats as they wobbled and fell and wrecked…when they gained control it was FREE RIDING! They were so excited and at that point the possiblities were endless! Habakuk 1:5 is a verse that pushes me to let go…Great post!
[Reply]
Holly Myers
6:55 am
I want answers; I guess I don’t realize it’s about control.
I don’t know; It seems that I’ve come in contact with those who truly do believe that it’s faith and the questions/answers are non-essential to knowing God and they should just love others and love Him….. and there are others that dismiss questions mostly out of apathy than their desire to love and serve God.
Yeah, I question. I want to understand. I struggle for understanding. But I’m also the person that can tell you what my pastor has spoken about for the past 3 weeks (or more) too. I pay attention.
If we really believed that we can’t/shouldn’t know God and dive into questions for further understanding, why do we listen to a preacher on Sunday mornings? Or is it all about tradition and that’s just what Christians “do”?
Torybee´s last blog ..Let Your Kingdom Come
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Torybee
7:09 am
@Torybee, I think we should never stop our quest for knowing God or His Scriptures. I do think we have to come to a place though where we understand that God nor Scriptures always provide easy answers to the complexities of life.
Just my thoughts.
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Pete Wilson
7:26 am
I struggle with control issues all the time. And it’s ridiculous when I think about it, because when I look at all the times that I try to take over and be “in control”, I end up in some major train wrecks.
I think it’s healthy to ask why…..God created us this way….but I also believe that we have to have the faith to keep believing and trusting in Him even when we don’t get any clear answers (or the ones we want to hear)
Once again…we are posting on the same issues, yesterday….my youngest one had her first time where she questioned God.
*~Michelle~*´s last blog ..Are you there God? It’s me….Nev
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*~Michelle~*
8:05 am
I buy into the illusion of control all the time. It’s probably my biggest struggle.
That’s why I believe Patience is the art of losing control. To be patient means I have to wait & rely on God, which means I cannot be in control. So, I guess, I struggle with patience too.
Nick´s last blog ..Nine Years Ago Today
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Nick
8:34 am
For twenty years I lived under the illusion that I had put something to bed–but this year, the Lord showed me how I’ve waited for a different resolve to something long past–the resovle I wanted, not the one He already gave.
It’s been one of the hardest lessons in my life, and I still wrestle with it. I learned how easily my heart can be deceived, starting with just the seed of a thought.
So, it’s hard to release my grip and give control over to God (I’m a hyper type A control freak), but I’m so glad to know He’s renewing my mind and continuing a good work in me.
I have walked with, and wandered away from, and come back to walk with him again and again, and after all this time, I’m still learning to trust Him. Wish it wasn’t so, but I’m thankful He’s faithful, and yes, even that He’s in control (because if I were, man, would I screw things up!)
Tina Dee´s last blog ..Dr. Hanna Shahin – Author of My Enemy…My Brother & Book Giveaway
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Tina Dee
8:46 am
I always want control. Control of the remote, control of the situation, control of my life. God has broken me so many times because I still try and hold on. I wonder how far I would be past this if I just gave up control and let Him work.
Quote from Ben Franklin:
“He that can have patience, can have what he will.”
He that can have patience and give control to God, can have what God wills.
Kyle Reed´s last blog ..What a Crazy Day on the Blogosphere
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Kyle Reed
8:59 am
I had the illusion that I had faith when I didn’t. I guess where I always get confused is knowing what God has equipped me to change and what I need to hand over to Him? The word says if I had faith I would say to the mountain! I have for so long thought that I have to have faith b/c “faith cometh by hearing the word” and I’ve been in church my whole life. But if I listen to the doubt coming out of my mouth I would know the seed eater stole the word that builds my faith. Try speaking to those things in your life that don’t seem to be changing and demanding them to be different! Jesus shed blood so we could be overcomers!!! Love your blog!
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Christie Ulrich
9:10 am
Hello my name is Jessica and I’m a control freak! {and I too like to be in control of the remote!}
I had major issues with this…not perfect. Working on it. This reminder was good.
jessica´s last blog ..Simplicity
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jessica
9:31 am
Control IS the greatest of all illusions. There are no guarantees. That was tough to acknowledge as a teenager when my 15 year old cousin was killed in a tractor accident. That was tough to acknowledge as a young adult when a friend of mine endured 4 miscarriages. That was tough to acknowledge as a middle-aged woman when my marriage fell apart because we didn’t know how to handle the transformations/changes in one another. And it’s tough to acknowledge now when I’m looking for a job and not finding one, when my son (raised in a Christian environment) has become an atheist, and when I have close friends struggling with failing marriages, bankruptcy, medical issues resulting in constant pain, etc. You can do everything possible to “set things up” right, and it can fall apart in an instant.
I could find a job tomorrow and be laid off two months later. I could marry my boyfriend and he could get cancer or become unfaithful. I could win the lottery, invest the money in a “safe” place and find out the person I trusted is another Madoff. There are no guarantees.
The older I get, the less I know. The closer I get to God, the more my theology is stretched. The more I search for truth, the more questions I have. It’s like God himself is taking his heavy finger and smudging all the charcoal lines I have been diligently drawing all my life.
Scripture says to seek and you will find. I believe that. What if all of my seeking leads to finding only this: The I AM is and the I AM loves me. And then I hear the whisper of the Spirit: “Is that enough? Do you really need more?”
[Reply]
ttm
9:41 am
amen, amen, amen!!!!!!
Lauren Kelly´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday w/ Food!
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Lauren Kelly
9:41 am
@ttm, Wow! “The I Am is and the I Am loves me”….is that enough? Great question.
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Pete Wilson
9:48 am
Being a faculty member in a Christian Leadership program for ministry students is good…but can be very bad. I am constantly battling my own “skills” and need to control my own destiny (I’m trained in leadership, right?).
It is very hard for me to enslave myself to Christ and let Him rule and reign. Yet, when I do, I find greatest peace, joy, and satisfaction. And…even knowing this….I wallow in my own failures as I try and take control thinking it will be better this time if I do it. Unreal.
Great post.
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@chrisrollwitz
9:49 am
You need a little “LIKE” button on your blog like FB has…I know what you mean…the very thing I have been trying to walk others through and having difficulty seeing why they just won’t take that step is exactly where I find myself today. Today I’m questioning my words that I have spoke to others with such strong faith for them…but wondering why I don’t always have that type of faith for me. Why do I feel the need to control when I am asking others to let Go and let God. Thanks Pete for always being real and allowing others to be real as well.
Kara´s last blog ..He Loves Me
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Kara
9:55 am
I so want to trust God with everything but rather than wanting control, I feel so out of control. Will God pay the mortgage I can’t pay? Will he get my son to stop drinking? Don’t misunderstand – I still pray & believe but really wonder if he will fix the mess I’ve made.
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Marty
9:56 am
“Control IS the greatest of all illusions.”
That should be on a T-shirt.
I think a lot of the stress in my life is my desire to take control. When another twist and turn comes along I want to just grab the road and pull it straight.
Jason´s last blog ..Remember
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Jason
10:07 am
@Marty, my husband and I just had this conversation yesterday, I was having an emotional melt down, the economy is hitting us hard, I had to reread Proverbs and talk to some girls in my small group to pray. Trust God from the bottom of your heart. Don’t try to figure everything out on your own. Listen to God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go. He’s the one who will keep you on track. God will not pay the morgage, nor your utility bills, however, he has promised to take care of us. Many of our situations are self -inflicted and living beyond our means. At times I have been foolish with our finances, and now have found I had to take a part time job, and actually told them in my interview that I could work any evening, but, needed to be off Sunday morning for church, 2 years ago I don’t believe I would have said that. My Faith and Trust at times does falter, however, just chase the devil away.
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Gina
10:12 am
A few thoughts from Oswald Chambers from Nov 1st. “Why shouldn’t we go through heartbreaks? Through those doorways God is opening up ways of fellowship with His Son. Mos of us fall and collapse at the first grip of pain; we sit down on the threshold of God’s purpose and die away of self-pity, and all so-called Christian sympathy will aid us to our death bed. But God will not. He comes with the grip of the pierced hand of His Son, and says- ‘Enter into fellowship with Me; arise and shine.’ If through a broken heart God can bring His purposes to pass in the world, then thank Him for breaking your heart.”
I know this isn’t specifically about having to be in control. For me, it gave me reason to release control. I just told my son last night, “God isn’t going to grab your problems out of your hands. You have to let go of them so that he can work on them for you.”
Tad´s last blog ..One Month To Live
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Tad
10:28 am
Faith.. great stuff.
Mary and Martha meet Christ on His way to the tomb of Lazarus – “Lord, if you would have only been here!!”
They didn’t realize what Paul explained in Philippians 4 – “The Lord is near!”
Sometimes we don’t see what the Lord is doing now because of what we didn’t see in the past.
Faith isn’t rooted in the past… it flows as a future promise to the hear and now.
Tony York´s last blog ..I’m so stupid… and so are you!
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Tony York
10:33 am
Yes I most definitely struggle with wanting to be in control.
I really appreciated ttm’s question too.
Tracy´s last blog ..How do you address God?
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Tracy
11:14 am
“control is the greatest of all illusions”. how true that is.
i’ve tried so hard for so long to hold tightly to things… and when i peel back my fingers, i discover that there was nothing in my hands the whole time.
alece´s last blog ..my scarlet letter
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alece
12:58 pm
I find myself praying, “Lord, please HELP me {whatever].” But it dawned on me the other day that by asking for God’s ‘help’ in solving a problem I’m making the assumption that I’ll be assisting in the matter.
However, if I pray, “God, please [make whatever happen]” and then anticipate the perfect outcome, I’m giving God the control.
Sounds good on paper but to pray for God to do it all…meaning give Him total control…is very hard for me to do. I want to help. That way I have some control in the matter.
I say that I don’t want God to be a consultant. If that’s true then why do I often catch myself asking for His opinion before I choose my own course of action?
[Reply]
Bill Renfrew
1:42 pm
@ttm Awesome post.
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Bill Renfrew
1:49 pm
Sorry this might get lengthy. The other night we were at a small group and a lady there said something that totally gave me an aha! moment. God moves upside down. Truly I thought she had knocked her head. Then she said, “In dying we live, in giving we receive, and in surrendering control we gain power.” Faith is hard because of the simplicity.
Two things the Lord revealed to me this week. One: trees don’t work at producing fruit. They are firmly rooted and they produce fruit, but they don’t will themselves to do it. They can’t pull themselves up by the bootstraps, chant, pray, nada… Nothing they do will produce fruit outside of them being rooted.
Two: I read Zephaniah. The first 2 chapters of that book are pretty rough, but then halfway through chapter 3, the Lord starts giving His promise of provision/protection/love. Despite the terrible circumstances that appear to be going to overtake them, the Lord is still there and promising to drive back their enemies and sing over them. I can’t tell you how much that has blessed me. Throw at me what you will, God goes before me and He is my rear guard. If I step out of the way, He is right there to take the onslaught.
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Julie
2:06 pm
@Julie, “God moves upside down.” I love that.
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Pete Wilson
2:17 pm
I’m always telling people to “hang in there”. I was about to tell you to “hang in there” and it felt wrong. We’re not supposed to hang in. We’re supposed to let go. The tighter we hang on, the less likely we’ll go anywhere.
Melissa´s last blog ..Around
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Melissa
6:58 pm
@Melissa, so true. I’m going to start using that. “We’re not supposed to hang in. We’re supposed to let go”.
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Pete Wilson
7:18 pm
Pete, what a great place to be in…..one of letting go of the control. And yes, its something I also struggle with too! I think we all do to some extent.
Maureen´s last blog ..Pre-Holiday Wishlist
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Maureen
5:09 am
Man did I need this. Had a situation last night that has been weighing on me. Came to your blog this morning and there is no question that God spoke to me (and others) through you. Thanks.
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Daniel Decker
6:28 am
BTW… LOVE Melissa Irwin’s comment. Awesome!
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Daniel Decker
6:31 am
so funny that your blog is about this topic. i just read charie kings latest post and it is on the same thing. i praise God for not giving up on lessons He wants me to grab hold of!
[Reply]
Craig Clark
8:14 am
whoops, here’s the link!
http://chariemagoo2.blogspot.com/
Craig Clark´s last blog ..
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Craig Clark
8:18 am