Control
Psalm 119:17 Be good to Your servant, that I may live and obey Your word.
Right now I am riding in the back seat of our van working. It amazes me how much more like a roller coaster driving feels like from the back of the van, rather than how secure I feel when I am at the front of the van driving. I have never ridden back here, but I have to work today while we are driving, so here I am while Sam is driving (quite well, I might add).
No matter how well Sam drives, I still feel out of control. I like to be in charge of things. I trust myself more than I trust other people…even my incredibly smart and capable wife. So I am working with one eye on the road…not getting nearly as much done as I would if I just focused on what I am supposed to do right now…work. While I was waiting for a file to download, I opened my Bible to see what God might tell me. I opened to Psalm 119:17. I read this verse and heard God say:
I am the One who is good to you…I make sure you live and breathe. Whether you are driving, or Sam is, makes no difference, your next breath is entirely dependant upon Me. Trust Me, I have plans for you that REQUIRE you not be in control. This is so that you may KNOW ME more.
This message was about much more than today’s trip for me. Right now, God is orchestrating an unbelievable move of unity in Jesus’ Body in my city. The Bride is just beginning to realize who She is to become. A massive part of this thing God is doing is the relinquishing of control on behalf of His people. Instead of individuals being the star of their own shows, or individual churches being islands of their own design, God is beginning to fulfill what Jesus asked for:
John 17:23 I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me.
As the Bride matures in this, Paul’s outline of how we function together will become more and more of a reality. Each person is meant to lead in some areas, and follow in others. As each member of the body learns to honor the leadership of each other member, their own leadership will actually be enhanced and honored, as well. “Mutual submission” is how my friend Dave Alderman describes it. This is what Paul said:
1 Corinthians 12:14-27 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. (15) If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body. (16) And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? (17) If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? (18) But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where He wants it. (19) How strange a body would be if it had only one part! (20) Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. (21) The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you." (22) In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. (23) And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, (24) while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. (25) This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. (26) If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. (27) All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it.
God had a specific role in mind for me when He made me. Psalm 33:15 says that He individually fashioned my heart. He dreamt up my heart and stuck it in my body… all the while seeing a perfect fulfillment of the dream IF I would choose it, too.
For love, God let’s me have as much, or as little, of His dream for me as I want. As I agree with Him about who is REALLY in control, it frees me to allow others to drive in certain sections of the road. This requires I contend for it. It doesn’t come naturally. I can pretend to honor the leadership of others, but God sees what is really happening in my heart. If I contend for it…ask Him for it to be a reality for me…He will!
Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
If I will go after this, God will give me freedom to trust His leadership expressed in others. If I am really free to trust the foot to get me where I need to go, then I can be the nose, or the ear, or whatever it is I am supposed to be. If I feel like I have to continually keep the foot that is carrying me in check, then I will miss out on playing my part well…then the whole Body suffers.
I set my heart to let others lead in the areas God designed them to lead, and to trust God with each step. This is honor: to celebrate the dream God has for each part of Jesus’ body I get the privilege of coming in contact with, and resisting the doubt the enemy tries to dangle in front of me based on the minor flaws each part of the Body displays.
God says I reap what I sow. If I want honor in the area I was designed to lead in, I need to follow others by carrying my heart in a way that truly honors them…even in the secret place, where the owner of the harvest sees it all!
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap
Right now I am riding in the back seat of our van working. It amazes me how much more like a roller coaster driving feels like from the back of the van, rather than how secure I feel when I am at the front of the van driving. I have never ridden back here, but I have to work today while we are driving, so here I am while Sam is driving (quite well, I might add).
No matter how well Sam drives, I still feel out of control. I like to be in charge of things. I trust myself more than I trust other people…even my incredibly smart and capable wife. So I am working with one eye on the road…not getting nearly as much done as I would if I just focused on what I am supposed to do right now…work. While I was waiting for a file to download, I opened my Bible to see what God might tell me. I opened to Psalm 119:17. I read this verse and heard God say:
I am the One who is good to you…I make sure you live and breathe. Whether you are driving, or Sam is, makes no difference, your next breath is entirely dependant upon Me. Trust Me, I have plans for you that REQUIRE you not be in control. This is so that you may KNOW ME more.
This message was about much more than today’s trip for me. Right now, God is orchestrating an unbelievable move of unity in Jesus’ Body in my city. The Bride is just beginning to realize who She is to become. A massive part of this thing God is doing is the relinquishing of control on behalf of His people. Instead of individuals being the star of their own shows, or individual churches being islands of their own design, God is beginning to fulfill what Jesus asked for:
John 17:23 I am in them and You are in Me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that You sent Me and that You love them as much as You love Me.
As the Bride matures in this, Paul’s outline of how we function together will become more and more of a reality. Each person is meant to lead in some areas, and follow in others. As each member of the body learns to honor the leadership of each other member, their own leadership will actually be enhanced and honored, as well. “Mutual submission” is how my friend Dave Alderman describes it. This is what Paul said:
1 Corinthians 12:14-27 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. (15) If the foot says, "I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand," that does not make it any less a part of the body. (16) And if the ear says, "I am not part of the body because I am not an eye," would that make it any less a part of the body? (17) If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? (18) But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where He wants it. (19) How strange a body would be if it had only one part! (20) Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. (21) The eye can never say to the hand, "I don't need you." The head can't say to the feet, "I don't need you." (22) In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. (23) And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, (24) while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. (25) This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. (26) If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. (27) All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it.
God had a specific role in mind for me when He made me. Psalm 33:15 says that He individually fashioned my heart. He dreamt up my heart and stuck it in my body… all the while seeing a perfect fulfillment of the dream IF I would choose it, too.
For love, God let’s me have as much, or as little, of His dream for me as I want. As I agree with Him about who is REALLY in control, it frees me to allow others to drive in certain sections of the road. This requires I contend for it. It doesn’t come naturally. I can pretend to honor the leadership of others, but God sees what is really happening in my heart. If I contend for it…ask Him for it to be a reality for me…He will!
Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. (8) For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
If I will go after this, God will give me freedom to trust His leadership expressed in others. If I am really free to trust the foot to get me where I need to go, then I can be the nose, or the ear, or whatever it is I am supposed to be. If I feel like I have to continually keep the foot that is carrying me in check, then I will miss out on playing my part well…then the whole Body suffers.
I set my heart to let others lead in the areas God designed them to lead, and to trust God with each step. This is honor: to celebrate the dream God has for each part of Jesus’ body I get the privilege of coming in contact with, and resisting the doubt the enemy tries to dangle in front of me based on the minor flaws each part of the Body displays.
God says I reap what I sow. If I want honor in the area I was designed to lead in, I need to follow others by carrying my heart in a way that truly honors them…even in the secret place, where the owner of the harvest sees it all!
Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap
Comments
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comments.