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Day Five
King Control
Scripture: Matthew 11:29-30; Mark 10:42–45; 1 Timothy 6:15–16
An unstable future causes us to turn toward other powers, searching for control. When we don’t trust God as our good authority, we inflate our own abilities and seek power and influence through career advancement, money accruement, and aligning with the “right” people. We offer our allegiance to leaders and institutions that promise us the outcomes we most desire.
Our allegiance to control often shows itself in the intersection of where we have God-given authority and where we experience the most stress. This intersection is what we call responsibility. Perhaps you oversee a handful of employees, you manage the checkbook, you have influence in your high school, or you pastor a church. What are you specifically responsible for? And how do you manage that responsibility? That will tell you where your allegiance lies.
When we give our allegiance to King Control we are exhibiting a belief that we are more responsible and more capable than God himself is. We confuse God’s authority with our own, elevating our personal kingdom and diminishing God’s perfect rule and reign. We don’t trust God can or will meet our needs, so we have to do it ourselves.
This is an alluring illusion of control.
As Creator, God is in control of all He has made, and He exerts His authority with wisdom, goodness, and faithfulness. So when we sing worship songs about giving God control, or we talk about relinquishing control of our lives to Him, we’re voicing untruths about who we are, who God is, and where we are in His story. We don’t hand authority over to God. We don’t let Jesus take the wheel, or anything else for that matter.
We never had control to begin with.
We are dependent creatures from birth to the grave, and this isn’t something to overcome or fight against. It’s something to revel and rest in, for we live by the power of God, and He is so steady and consistent that He’s called faithful and true. We’re invited to come into His kingdom, under His power and authority, and find there that the burden of responsibility is light (see Matt. 11:29-30).
When are you most likely to act as if you believe you are more responsible and capable than God is?
About this Plan
Relying on ourselves sounds good. After all, if we just get a little more organized, a little more patient, a little more spiritual, our lives will be better…. Right? In this week’s devotional, Christine Hoover reminds us why relying on ourselves leads us to bow to the false kings of anxiety, control, and self-indulgence. Only when we bring our whole hearts to the true King will we find true satisfaction.
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