If you ever looked up Type A personality in the dictionary, you would probably find my name – I love making lists; every meeting must have an agenda; I plan everything down to the last detail; there’s a place for everything; I am always on time, early actually. And, I love being in control.
One thing I have learned over time, however, is that no matter how well I might organize something, prayed and committed my plans to the Lord, things do not always work out the way I want them to. As much as I would like to think that my list-making, organizing, and planning self is in control, I’m really not. Ultimately, I have to trust my life, my plans, my hopes, and my dreams to the Lord.
Psalm 146 puts it this way:
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them- the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked. The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.
Sometimes things go wrong – no matter how much we’ve prayed and planned. When that happens, take your anger, frustration, and confusion to Jesus. He knows exactly how you feel and He wants to restore your peace. He uses these frustrating and confusing times to draw us ever closer to Him.
When we give up what we believe we’re in control of, we move out of the way so the Lord can take over. We cannot control everything that happens in our life, but we can control how we react. The next time things do not go quite the way you had hoped, respond by giving it to Jesus.
