Control
Philippians 2:7-8; Romans 12:1
Dave Navarro has written an article entitled, “The 5 People Who Secretly Control Your Life.” In it, he says, what you may not realize is just how many people influence your life, feeding you ideas about what is “right,” “wrong,” “good,” “bad,” and practically every other subjective decision-making criteria that guides your life. Some of these ideas are good for you, while others are bad. In fact, there are more people than you’d like to admit secretly controlling your life by influencing how you make your most important, life-guiding choices. They’re “secret” because we usually don’t know that it’s going on.” The 5 influences he names are: your heroes, your nemesis, your parents, your partner or spouse, and your image of who we should be.
Control. We bristled under the thought that someone else might be controlling us. And we revel in the thought that we can control our lives. In fact, many of us, if we’re honest, are control freaks. How many of you have issues of control when it comes to your personal life? This idea of control is deeply imbedded in our culture, our value of freedom and the American dream. The American Dream states that anyone can succeed through hard work and has the potential to lead a happy, successful life. You have control of who you become but the direction of your life.
Rather than choosing to control his own life, Jesus instead chose to surrender everything to the will of God. When Jesus went into the wilderness and was tempted, it was an exercise over control of his life. Would he be in control or would he surrender it to God? And when Jesus was on the cross, he was tempted to take back control first by the passersby who cried out, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God! And second by the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders who mocked him. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.’” Matthew 27:40 Instead, as our Scripture today shows Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross!” Jesus would go on to confess, "I can do nothing on my own". John 5:30 And he calls those who follow him to do the same, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew16:24-25
Jesus’ answer to our control problems: Surrender. We are called to surrender but we often bristle at the very idea. The last thing we want to do is give up control. Many of us still live under the illusion that we are in control of our lives, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Times when we have taken control and messed up our own life is proof enough or when our lives have spun out of control and we can do nothing to stop it. Still, letting go of control and giving it over to someone else, even God, is a frightening prospect. Maybe it's the word "surrender" which we usually associate with defeat, humiliation, and losing. Our world never considers surrender a good thing. No one wants to lose, and no one wants to admit defeat. We are taught instead never to give up and never give in. If winning is everything, surrendering is unthinkable.
But surrendering to God is a different story. To surrender means to relinquish possession or control to another. Surrendering isn’t losing or admitting defeat. It’s about victory in Jesus Christ because he calls us to surrender. It’s about becoming who we are called to be. Author and theologian C.S. Lewis was right when he said, “The more we let God take us over, the more truly ourselves we become- because he made us.” Surrendering your life means:
. Following God's lead without knowing where he's sending you
. Waiting for God's timing without knowing when it will come
• Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide
• Trusting God's purpose without understanding the circumstances
Surrendering to Jesus Christ is another name for "being born again" in a new life led by Jesus. It’s allowing Jesus to live inside you. It means living a Jesus-like life that is pleasing and acceptable to God. It is confessing your sins when you sin, repenting and turning away from them. It is giving up pride, control, independence and all those things in our life that we have deemed important and precious and have placed ahead of Jesus Christ. It’s allowing God to guide your life, making regular sacrifices in living and also serving Him. It’s acknowledging Him in all things, realizing that everything we have in this life comes from Him. And most of all, it means that we finally understand that we cannot make it without his constant guidance and protection.
Surrendering means that you look to the Scriptures for guidance, not the self-help section at the bookstore. You will submit to what the Bible says and follow its commands. In doing so, you will fulfill the words of Jesus who said, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." You will pray because you are commanded to pray. You stand up for truth and righteousness because God calls us to. You will respect God’s creation realizing you are a caretaker not owner of the world. You become a willing instrument, allowing God to use any way He sees fit. Your every breath and thought is Psalm 143:10, "Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God.”
How do you know when you have surrendered yourself to Jesus? You've surrendered to God when you rely on Him to work things out instead of trying to manipulate and force your agenda to control the situation. You let go and let God work. You let him be in charge. Instead of trying harder, you trust more. When faced with a difficult trial or tribulation, you don’t ask, “What am I going to do now?" Instead you ask, "Lord, what are you going to do?” You don't rely on their own abilities and resources but God’s power and his provision. You place complete faith and trust in Christ, knowing that God is in control and that no matter what you face, with “God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26
Out of that surrender come the willingness to sacrifice, no matter the cost. Surrender is part of the pathway to maturity and to a life of holiness and becoming Christ-like. With sacrifice comes a commitment to obedience to the will of God and the Word of God.
If you really think about it, there are only two choices in life: living either a a self-centered life, or a Christ-centered life. There are no other choices and there is no in between, because you’re either surrendered or not. So surrendering to God means living a life that is in alignment with God's will and in complete agreement with the Word of God. We strive to walk like the Word tells us to walk. We endeavor to talk, think, act and live like his Word tells us to live. All of the above can be summed up in one short sentence. Believe the truth of the Word of God, put your faith in Jesus Christ, and live in a moment by moment dependence on him.
Surrendering to God requires letting go of our agendas. Most people’s lists of things they consider important would include personal peace, happiness, comfort, prosperity, security, friends, good health, purpose and financial freedom. The problem is that most of those plans are about us rather than God and as a result, often conflict or ignore altogether God’s plan for us. You can’t pursuer your agenda and God’s at the same time. Jesus put it this way, “No one can serve two Masters.” Matthew 6:24 It’s true that God may and often does provide those things for us, but they’re a by-product of living for him. Our surrender to God’s plan is a statement that we will not live for these things. They’re not the things that drive us, but are simply the lagniappe that comes by living and serving God, if they come at all. As you begin to surrender to Jesus, you will find the world begins to lose its appeal, because it is now about Jesus, and what he wants, that becomes the most important thing in your life. And you surrendering, the greater your ability to discern God's will in everything.
Surrender must be a continuous practice. Surrendering is not a one-time thing. And there will be challenges and choices along the path of faith. After Jesus was tempted the third time, Luke records for us these words, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.” Luke 4:13 In other words, the devil was going to look for other opportunities to tempt Jesus to take back control of his life and ministry. The same is true for us. Surrendering is a constant endeavor. Each day, each moment and each thought will need to be surrendered to God.
The goal is to have absolutely no separation between your spiritual life and your common everyday life. The two lives become one. Unfortunately, most believers take their spiritual life and simply tack it onto the different and separate areas of their life, kind of like independent silos. And so they’ll have a silo for their family, one for their job, one for their friends, one for their community participate and then they’ll have a silo for their spiritual life. And you have a role that you play in each but one doesn’t necessarily impact the other. And so many times their spiritual life has little if any impact on the other areas of their life. So every morning, we need to surrender every area of our life to him. As Paul said in Romans 12:1 "So brothers and sisters, I beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him." And we need to do that over and over each and every day of our lives. Surrender and sacrifice must become central to our lives. For Jesus said, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Lu 9:23
God wants to be involved in every single decision that you make regardless of how small it may be. He wants to guide your every thought. He wants to lead you on the path of life. He wants to be in every action you undertake. But that can only happen when you completely surrender to him and allow him to have complete control over every aspect of your life. This is how we grow and what it means to be mature in Christ and to live a holy life. The more control a person allows God to have in their life, the greater that person's spiritual growth is going to be and the closer that person will be to God.
Without total surrender we attempt to work for God instead of letting God work through us. Without total surrender, our own self-interest and pride will cause us to reject the gifts of God because they do not come in a way that suits you. Without total surrender to Jesus, we will always demand more, demand different, and demand greater. Without total surrender, we will never be able to put complete faith and trust in him, we will never learn to love him and obey him. Without total surrender, we will continue to try to weather the storms and the trials of life. Without total surrender, we will never be able to put up with the disappointments, the discouragements, and the disillusionments of life. Without surrender, we will continue to walk independently of God, and Satan will be waiting for an opportune time to target you.
But when you do surrender, you will soon find that God that is providing you with all the strength and power you need. You don't have to cry out to God for more strength. You don't have to beg and plead with the Holy Spirit to fill you up even more, so you can overcome the many sins that enter into one's daily life. You don’t have to worry about what’s happening in your life. You don’t have to continue to chase more in life because you will learn to become content in what you have. None of that has to be done. The only thing you need to do is surrender. That's all. Simply surrender. You are not waiting on God, God is waiting on you.
Jesus said, “ I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” To follow Him, His ways must become our ways, his words become our words, his thoughts become our thoughts, his beliefs become our beliefs. His heart becomes out heart. Our hands become his hands. Our eyes and ears become his eyes and ears. Our actions become his actions. Our bodies become his body.. After Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life,” he went on to say, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. If you love me, keep my commands.” John 14:6,12-15 Amen and Amen
