Control Freak!

I like a routine!  I like a plan!

What about you?

Do you like knowing what is going to happen next?  Do you like to be in control of your life?   Have you ever been referred to as a control freak???

Now, listen my friend, there’s nothing wrong with a plan.  In fact, there are several scripture references that mention the importance of being prepared.  (Proverbs 6:6-8   Proverbs 27:23  Proverbs 31  Proverbs 15:22  Luke 14:28)

Plans are not bad, but sometimes I get stuck in my plan.  I fall into the trap of thinking I know what is best for my life.  As women, we juggle a lot of responsibilities and I think overall, we are planners.  There are only so many hours in the day, and so we have things planned out to ensure everything gets done.

I don’t like it when my plans are interrupted.  I don’t like to feel out of control, but the truth is….I am not in control, God is.

In Exodus 3:2 we read about a time when Moses’ life was interrupted by God.

“And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

As Moses was tending his flock, accomplishing his daily “to do list”, God showed up and announced a specific calling on his life.  God divinely interrupted Moses’ life and boy did He have something important to say!  God said to Moses, “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)

What a task for one man!  An extraordinary assignment—to approach Pharaoh and to free an entire nation of people!  There were about 600,000 men, plus all the women and children. (Exodus 12:37)

It was never in Moses’ life plan to go to Pharaoh about freeing the Israelites.  He did not feel qualified for this task.  He did not ask for this assignment.  In fact, he gave God excuses on why he was NOT the man for the job.

But God’s plan prevailed because God is God and He makes the plans!  (Jeremiah 29:11)

For most of us, God does not typically show up in the form of a burning bush, but:

• God still speaks!
• God still calls ordinary people to do extraordinary things!
• God still divinely interrupts the lives of His people!

Our desire to control our lives could be the very thing that prevents us from living the life God has planned for us to live.

As you make plans for your life my friend, hang on to your plans loosely.  Keep your main focus on loving God and seeking after Him.   

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

God is at work all around us.  Let’s be looking for Him to divinely interrupt our lives and let’s be ready and willing to go wherever He leads!

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”   James 4:13-15

Thankful for you!

~Joy