The Desire for ControlSample

Release Control

The Bible says God did not “give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power of love and self-control.” 2 Timothy 1:7

This not only shows the Lord has given us all freedom of choice to determine what we do, think and feel, but it also proves there is an element of our lives that is naturally orchestrated by the decisions we make, as well as the things we choose not to do. (1 Peter 4:12)

The concept of control gets distorted when we become obsessed with calling the shots.

This is because nothing in life will go our way all of the time. And when the undesired outcome inevitably occurs, if we are bent on having control we will grow frustrated, distressed, discouraged and eventually angry with God. (Proverbs 20:24)

Think about it. How many times have you heard someone ask “Why God, why?” when something they planned did not happen as they envisioned it?

If we’re being completely honest, how many times have we complained to God because something did not turn out the way we wanted it to, even though we did “everything right”?

This line of thinking is dangerous because if a challenge takes us out of our comfort zone, we will then be tempted to wallow in self-pity or shut ourselves off from the rest of the world out of fear of getting hurt again.