Are you a control freak? Or an occasional control freak? You are not alone. It is hard to live carefree. It would be nice to be able to control things, wouldn’t it? But that’s not how life works.

Control freaks ultimate desire is to feel safe. That’s the reason why they want to be in control. So that everything would be fine in their lives. They try to achieve this peace on their own. But control freaks are looking for this safety in wrong places. They think they should be the ones to decide what happens and when and how. But that’s not how life works.  There’s no guarantees. There’s no control over life. No matter how hard we try.

What to do then? Is there any help for control freaks available? Yes, but not in self-help. Blessedly, God is ready to offer help for control freaks.

Look at the proud!
    They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked.
    But the righteous will live by their faithfulness to God.
(Habakkuk 2:4, NLT)

God is bigger than your need to control.
God is better than your idea of him.
God’s idea of what you need is more accurate than your own idea.
God is in control even when everything feels out of control.

It is hard to trust God, I know. The more control freak tendencies we have, the harder it is to trust God will take care of us. But the harder it is to trust God, the bigger are the benefits. Stress-free, carefree existence seems, at first, too good to be true. But peace is possible. So is rest in God. But only when we leave our worries and control freak tendencies at the foot of the cross. And just note this is not a once in a lifetime thing. It pretty much must happen daily. Otherwise we start worrying and controlling anything and everything around us. Like that would ever bring peace.

Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. (Hebrews 10:23, NLT)

Just like alcohol or drugs or sugar, also control can be addictive. That’s why we need Jesus so badly. We can’t but by God’s grace we can learn to trust God with our everything. And it does get easier. The more we trust, the easier it becomes. Because we learn intimately that God is trustworthy. Always and forever.

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13, NLT)

Dear God,
Forgive me for trying to take over.
Forgive me for thinking I would know everything.
Thank you that you love me anyway.
Heal me, teach me to trust you.
Show me how letting you to be in charge
is for my own good.
Teach me how to live carefree in your grace.
Show me what being your child really means.
Thank you that you are trustworthy.
Thank you that you I can rest in you.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen

Q4U: Are you a control freak? How do you deal with it? Have you learned to trust God?

Be blessed, my fellow pilgrim, as you learn to let go and let God!

Photo courtesy of John Purkey. Linking up today with Unite the Bloggersphere and #tellhisstory.