Jesus Over Everything: 5 Days to Calm Your ChaosSample

Be Honest About What Isn’t Working

Our human tendency is to go on what our eyes see to determine our wellness. When things look good, we feel secure. When things look bad, we immediately scramble to take control. We make decisions based on our surroundings instead of based on the Word of God. Taking matters into our own hands has become a way of life. We think we can best handle things until the rug is pulled out from under us. No wonder we constantly feel like we are helpless to our circumstances, waiting on the other shoe to drop in life.

Sometimes our desire for control involves trying to control the narrative in a relationship we feel slipping away from us…managing our anxiety and stress by constantly analyzing what God is up to, trying to figure it out…or hoping to get people to accept, love, or understand us by offering constant apologies or explanations. Sometimes we try to control our lives by working more, seeking worth and security in our achievements. And then sometimes we feel that our only means of control is to run away from it all by checking out for a while—numbing ourselves through social media, Netflix, and other things ready to take us away from present life. In our flesh we love messages of human power and self-sufficiency.

But in the end, none of that has worked for us. Pain didn’t go away. The world didn’t stop being chaotic. Momentary fixes haven’t solved the main things. And we’ve been left with lives that are still complicated.

If we want our lives to change, we must be honest about what isn’t working. Things in the world may continue to swirl around us, but the internal chaos can stop.

You ready for some good news? We no longer need to assume that because our lives are not presently working, we need entirely new lives. Many times we just need God to finally run ours. Instead of running to the humanistic messaging that says we can solve our own problems, we can cling to the eternal Savior, Jesus. Our unfulfilling search for another new thing or needing another vacation to find a feeling of joy, never feeling like our marriages are fulfilling enough or we can find a church that meets our needs, can stop. Too often we throw perfectly good lives in the trash in search of ones we end up tarnishing all over again. The core of why our lives don’t work isn’t the life itself but what we internally never made right. This is why we wind up repeating patterns and complicating our own lives.

The exhaustion over this can end. The over-apologizing, overanalyzing, overexplaining, overindulging, and overworking can see their last day. Being honest about what isn’t working to calm the chaos in your life and finally letting Jesus manage it is an important part of the process. 

As you take this honest step, ask yourself this key question: Have I contributed to my own life complication(s)? If the answer to that in any way is yes, be willing to dive in even more to find out exactly how. 

Jesus is ready and available to be the strength and order you need in a life that may feel out of control. Will you let Him manage your life?

Prayer

Lord, I thank You that even in the midst of a chaotic world, You call me to a settled life. Thank You that You provide the stability I need. I pray You would open my eyes to what isn’t working in my life, and help me have the courage and strength to be able to face even difficult truth. Help me see the beauty of change on the other side. I love You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Respond

What ways, knowingly and unknowingly, have you contributed to your own complications? 

What would it take for you to take your hands off of and release your control methods to God?

What “deadly over” do you struggle with, and how could your life look better if you let Jesus rule over that area of your life?