Control is an issue we all struggle with. We want to control our world and environment to achieve the most comfortable situation we can have. We attempt to control our children and their worlds so that they will grow up to be functional adults. I even heard one person say that if there was more control in his profession he wanted it because he wanted to leave nothing to chance.
However, I have found control, the kind of control we all want in our life, is an illusion. It simply is not possible to control your life. You can make decisions that have impact on your life, but you cannot always control the outcome of your decisions; and because you can’t always control every aspect of your life, then you really don’t have control of anything. Control is all or nothing. You either have all control, or you have no control.
Jesus, in the gospel of John, makes a remarkable statement to a couple of men who decided to leave John the Baptist and follow Him. Jesus notices their following him and asks them what they are seeking. They reply by asking Jesus where he is staying. This is an interesting reply as they do not directly answer Jesus’s question. Looking to the context of their question they are essentially asking Jesus, “Do you have the status, by who you are staying with, to be the Lamb of God that John says you are? Are you powerful enough to give us the outcome we are looking for? John is set-up to do great things; he has a big following and people love him, but can you give us what we think he is going to give us?”
Essentially these two men are asking Jesus if He has the power to do great things like they thought John was going to do. You see, they were not willing to give everything to Jesus yet. They wanted to know if he would give them what they wanted in return for giving up their present lives and following John. We can all be guilty of this same mindset. I’ve been asked several times by people, “If I become a Christian will I have to give up _________?” The question is the same these men were asking. These two men speaking to Jesus, and us today, are asking Jesus, “Will I still get to be in control of what I do with my life and how I live, or do I have to give up control?”
Jesus’s response to these men is the same response He gives to us some 2000 years later, “Come and you will see” (John 1:39). Jesus is not interested in our desires and our control of our lives, He is interested in us coming to him fully and seeing Him for the savior that He truly is. Jesus asks us to look to Him and follow Him only, the rest is in His control.
“God is great, so we don’t have to be in control.” God’s greatness is demonstrated in so many ways in our world and in our lives that it is literally impossible to list them all. Consider his greatness in the gospel. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God’s greatness lived and breathed on this world in order to gain ultimate control over sin and death, our two greatest enemies. When you see God’s greatness in the cross, you can let go of trying to control your world and rest in His grace and love at what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Christianity’s message is “Jesus did it, so I don’t have to do anything.” God is great, so we don’t have to be in control.
