Let’s face it: we all like to be in control. To feel as though we can direct the course of things and determine the outcome. But this mentality works against faith. It is rooted in pride – a belief that we know what is best and deserve to be in control.

As I rode on the left side of the car in Australia (without a steering wheel), watching someone on the other side of the car drive on the opposite side of the road, I was reminded that sometimes it is best to let someone else drive! Sit back and relax. You don’t have to be in control of everything.

One of my mentors said to me when I was a very young man, “You have an issue that you will have to work on. You get disturbed when things don’t go your way. It bothers you deeply when something doesn’t turn out the way you thought it should.” At the time I didn’t understand or agree. Over time God taught me that my friend was right.

Sometimes in a world that seems out of control we spend a great deal of our energy trying to control everything around us.

We want to control others. Yet that is not what God has called us to do. We can influence, instruct, encourage, guide – but we cannot control. People must answer to God for themselves. When you are tempted to try to control everyone else, commit them to God. The Apostle Paul had done all he could for the believers at Ephesus when he finally said, “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).

We want to control circumstances. Only God can do that. No amount of manipulation or effort can make all wrongs right in this world. Jacob had to stop scheming and conniving and learn to lean on the Lord alone. When you are tempted to try to control circumstances, commit them to God.

We want to control our own lives. But the Lord tells us that we must “yield” not control (Romans 6:13). We are not able to control ourselves, but under the control of the Holy Spirit we can do what is right. When you are tempted to try to control your own present and future, commit yourself to the God who alone has the wisdom and power to rule the good and overrule the evil. 

Control issues are spiritual issues. The real issue is: can you trust God? Will you? Let Him be in control today.