Control is a Myth

I never consider myself a control freak. Those people are really annoying. They micro- manage everything and nothing is ever good enough. Impatient with results, they try to do everything. Plans must go their way and in the end, if it hasn’t quite turned out the way they envisioned, it might as well be a complete disaster.

But I am in total denial. I need help. My name is Tom and I am a control freak.

No one is really in complete control. Let’s be honest, there is only so much you can actually “make” happen. Your life, as well as mine, is part of a greater movie called “Life” and that means, like every great movie, there are always twists and setbacks to the story.

Like when you’re driving down the road at a perfectly normal speed and a deer jumps out and wrecks your car. Or when the day is planned and the reservations are set and she calls saying, “I think we should talk.” Or when you wake up ready for the day, coffee in hand, and a tsunami slams into your country - forever altering your way of life. It happens. You are not in control.

However, that is not to say that we live in complete and utter chaos, powerless against the forces of chance. I believe quite the opposite. I believe our individual stories are part of a bigger story and what may appear to us as chance, coincidence, or chaos is really a planned, perfect, and divine providence. That is to say, God is in control.

First, a story.

For the past few weeks I’ve been trying to spend some time with Jon, a freshman in our movement. When we finally sat down in the student union and began to share our stories with each other, I learned an incredibly important lesson.

Jon grew up a Christian. He went to Christian school, had Christian friends, listened to Christian music, and probably had a Christian car. But somewhere between all the Christian activity and his freshman year of college he decided he’d had enough of the Christian stuff. He wanted to seek life elsewhere.

So, he joined a frat. He made friends, he partied, he suffered and survived hell week. And after all that he realized, “Crap, life isn’t where I thought it might be.” He began to pursue Jesus once again. In the greater course of events, it turned out that his Christian friends from his Christian school followed him to college and were also part of this Christian group on campus. Total coincidence. He gets involved, starts to grow and now is volunteering to stay sober at the parties his fraternity throws so that he might have an opportunity to share Christ with his friends at any opportune moment.

Sensing the Holy Spirit was at work in Jon, I asked if he’d be interested in attending the Greek Summit, a short term summer project equipping Greek students interested in reaching their Fraternity or Sorority for Christ. He said he would think about it.

After talking with Jon, the Lord reminded me, “Hey, remember when you were asking for this?” For as long as I have been at my campus, we have prayed for opportunities to reach out to Greek students on our campus. We tried “Beer Is Proof,” we tried Cru alumni who were involved in fraternities, we prayed, we challenged some to join a fraternity or sorority. And the result: nothing, nada, zip. It was on our strategic plan and we had strategies to go after it. It still didn’t happen.

But God was at work where we weren’t able to see and now, after 5 years of trying to make something happen, the Lord is ready to make a move - and I had nothing to do with it, it just happened.

Whenever I feel frustrated or disappointed with what I’m not seeing happen on our campus (and trust me, this is a struggle I have daily) I am reminded of two very simple passages of scripture.

The first is Proverbs 16:9. It says, “ The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”  While our heart wants to see the lost reached on our campus and to be a part of making those desires become a reality, the Lord is the one who ultimately is in control of the timing, the results, and the personnel involved.

The second verse comes from the same chapter,  “Commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established.”  I also need to be reminded that the Lord is helping us in accomplishing that plan to bring the gospel to every student on our campus.

We had a plan, and it was being established. But I didn’t see all of it and it’s comforting to know that, behind the scenes, God might be at work.  And I just simply need to trust him and wait.

I need help. I don’t need to be in control because the Gospel is what frees us to rest in and rely upon the providence of God, knowing that all things work for his glory and our greatest good. God will accomplish the work - in you and in the world - despite the hardships and the apparent lack of progress, the trials and the setbacks.