WEDNESDAY'S WORD

 


Today's word was sent by a friend who has been my neighbor not once, but twice.   Obviously, there are reasons God has had us living close in two different neighborhoods.  Both neighborhoods have a special place in my heart and we still get together with our old neighbors from the first hood--long time friendships.


When they sent me their word, I laughed to myself.  First thought ~ is there any such thing as control?




I have a standard adage for parents with children still at home -

The only time in my life I was totally out of control

was while raising children.


The times I have felt totally out of control due to outside forces (such as children) and various other occasions of lack of control have lead me to have a need for control.    No matter how many lists I make or how well I think I have prepared, control can be illusive at best.  There is no way to ever be totally in control.  There are too many factors over which we have no influence  to obtain that moving target of control.






I have had control dreams my entire life.  Being unprepared for a test (sometimes walking into a course for the first time on the day of the final); falling (from various heights); and finally discovering I am unclothed in public (different stages of undress--from no shoes - to totally nude.  All of these dreams steam from a need for control that I obviously am feeling stressed over my lack thereof.




NOW---HOLD ON  --my desire for control comes from one place  -  I want to control my life.  I want to sit on the throne and issue the orders of how things should happen.  Queen of my own destiny (there's that word again).  What I have learned is just when I think I have things under control the world turns upside down again.


When I had finally arrived at the point in life that I felt like I was on cruise control headed toward the golden years, my life fell completely apart.  It took a LONG time to recognize there are factors which can turn the world upside down which we have NO control over.  There are NO guarantees in life.  Who foresaw this pandemic coming?  If you did have a glimmer it was coming, did you have any idea how it would change the world?  All of us are probably guilty of saying, "I wish things would just go back to normal."  And then we remember normal is a setting on the dryer, not a state of being.


Let me back up (I tend to go off at times) and give you the definition of control


the power to influence or direct people's behavior or the course of events.


I immediately see the problem with my lack of control.  I lack the power!  Do any of us really have the power to maintain perfect control over our lives?


There is only One who has this power.  Only one who maintains perfect control.  God Almighty.  He has the power to move mountains, to tend to the birds of the air, to cause the rocks to become bread, to part the waters, to cause donkeys to talk, to have whales swallow a man without harm, to create a man to use for His good purpose, and to raise the dead from the grave.  




Where should we look then, for that illusive control we so desire?  God Almighty.  My experience has been when I have prayed for change, God either granted my plea for change or He has given me the grace to accept the circumstances as His will.  A simplistic approach  ~  I prefer to believe it is implicitly God.


" ‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! Nothing is too difficult for You,"

Jeremiah 32:17

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4 comments

  1. Amen, Lulu! Our desire for control is but an illusion. God is the only One who is in control and will forever be.
    I'm sure enjoying your unpacking of the words folks are sending you!
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It has rekindled my desire to sit and write everyday, Martha. Thankful for all who have contributed!
      Blessings, My Friend!

      Delete
  2. I have put a thermostat in every room, also on the stairs, in the loft and the cellar, and also in the garage. None of them are connected. They do not work. But it makes them think they're in control of the temperature.

    The thing is: How many thermostats has God put in our lives?

    God bless.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's up to us to stay connected, Victor!
    Blessings!

    ReplyDelete

Your comments keep my writing and often cause me to think. A written form of a hug or a pat on the back and an occasional slap into reality---I treasure them all!