It's time to Let Go of Control and Trust God
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The narrow streets of Jerusalem pulsed with tension that day as Jesus walked into the synagogue, the whispers following him like shadows. They'd heard about the miracles, the authority in his teaching, the way demons fled at his command. But here in Capernium, in this familiar place where he taught so many times before, something different was about to unfold. The crowd pressed in, their expectations heavy in the air. Some hoping for another miracle, others waiting to catch him in blasphemy. When Jesus stood to speak, his words cut through their assumptions like a blade through fabric. "I am the bread of life," he declared, his voice steady and sure.
"Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35. The murmuring started immediately. This carpenter's son, this man they'd watched grow up, was claiming to be heaven's provision. As he continued, explaining that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood to have eternal life. The comfortable religion they' constructed began to crack. "This is a hard teaching," his own disciples muttered among themselves.
"Who can accept it?" And John tells us that from that moment, many turned away. They'd wanted a Messiah they could control. A kingdom that fit their plans. A God who stayed in his designated box. But Jesus was offering something else entirely. A complete surrender to a light they couldn't generate themselves.
You know, we're not so different from those disciples who walked away that day. We come to God with our lists, our timelines, our carefully mapped out plans for how he should work. We've got the whole thing figured out. When the healing should come, how the relationship should develop, which door should open for our career. We're like people trying to tell the sun when and how to shine, forgetting that we're not the source of light. We're meant to be mirrors reflecting it. And when God doesn't follow our script, when the healing takes longer than we expected, when the job doesn't materialize, when that person we're praying for stays distant, we get frustrated.
God, what are you doing? This is not how it's supposed to go. But here's what I've learned. Once you pray, once you've truly given something to God, you've got to release control of how and when he answers. Because the moment we try to control the outcome, we've stopped being mirrors and started trying to be the light source ourselves.
Think about Paul for a moment. Here's a man who had his whole religious life mapped out, who knew exactly how to serve God. Or so he thought. He was breathing out threats against the early Christians, convinced he was defending God's honor. Then on that road to Damascus, a light so bright it knocked him to the ground. changed everything. Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?
Acts 9:4. In that instant, Paul's entire framework for understanding God shattered. The God he thought he was serving by controlling and destroying was actually the one he was fighting against.
For 3 days, Paul sat in complete darkness, unable to see, forced to release every bit of control he'd held on to so tightly. And you know what happened when Ananas came and the scales fell from his eyes? Paul didn't just get his sight back. He became one of the most powerful reflectors of God's light the world has ever seen. But it only happened when he stopped trying to control how God's kingdom should advance.
The truth is, we're all walking around with invisible lists of how God should do things. We've got our theological boxes, our religious expectations, our timelines for when prayer should be answered. We treat God like he's some kind of divine vending machine. Insert prayer, select option B3, and wait for the expected result to drop down. But God's ways aren't our ways. Isaiah knew this when he wrote, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." Isaiah 55:8.
The path he's taken you on might look like it's going backwards when it's actually a shortcut to something better than you imagined. The closed door that's breaking your heart might be God's protection from something that would have destroyed you. The delay that's driving you crazy might be because he's preparing something so much bigger than what you asked for. I think about Joseph. Sold into slavery by his own brothers, falsely accused, thrown into prison. If anyone had a right to shake his fist at heaven and demand answers, it was Joseph. God, I had that dream.
You show me I would be a leader. This isn't the plan. But Joseph understood something profound. He wasn't trying to generate his own light. He was reflecting God's light. even in the darkness of that prison cell. He didn't know how those dreams would come to pass.
He didn't have the road map, but he kept his inner mirror clean, kept it turned toward God. And 13 years later, he became the second most powerful man in Egypt. What looked like everything going wrong was actually God positioning him to save not just his own family, but the entire nation of Egypt from starvation. You see, Joseph could have spent those years trying to manipulate his way out, trying to control the narrative, demanding that God work faster. Instead, he released control and trusted that the one who gave the dream knew how to fulfill it. I wanted to take a moment to tell you about my book, The Broken Mirror: Rediscovering Our True Nature in Christ. Readers call it a fantastic book where you will feel yourself discovering your identity in Christ.
One reviewer praised it as five-star material for the spiritual mystic or group Bible study. It's time to escape legalism and shame. Discover you're already God's beloved child with divine nature flowing through you with what reviewers describe as excellent writing style and elegant pros like a campfire discussion with a knowledgeable and gifted recon tour journey from Genesis to Revelation uncovering your true identity. This book shows how to access God's peace, wisdom, and strength from within. Your struggles become opportunities for divine light to shine through. Available in hard coverver, paperback, Kindle, and audio book. The link to the book is in the video description.
May God bless your journey along his path for you. Jesus taught us his principles so clearly when he said, "I am the vine. You are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you can do nothing. John 15:5.
A branch doesn't control when the fruit appears. It doesn't strategize about which nutrients to pull from the vine. It simply stays connected and lets the life flow through it. That's what we're called to do. Not to control the process, but to stay connected to the source. But oh, how we struggle with this. We want to know the timeline, the method, the specific people God will use.
We want guarantees and contracts and clearly marked paths. When God doesn't give us the details, we get anxious. What if it doesn't work out? What if I'm waiting for nothing? What if God has forgotten about me? We fill our heads with this stuff. But let me tell you something, those what-ifs are the enemy of faith.
They're the voice of the old self that still thinks it needs to generate its own light, create its own solutions, be its own savior. But we weren't designed to carry that weight. We were designed to reflect, not to source. When you find yourself spiraling into worry about how things will work out, that's your signal that you've tried to pick up control again. You've stopped being a mirror and started trying to be the sun. But that's impossible for you. Here's what really gets me.
When Jesus was about to be arrested, Peter pulled out his sword, ready to fight, he was going to control the situation, protect Jesus, make sure the plan stayed on track. But Jesus said, "Put your sword back in its place in Matthew 26." And then he says something profound. Do you think I cannot appeal to my father and he will at once send me more than 12 legions of angels? Jesus could have controlled the situation if he wanted to. He had the power. But he chose to surrender to the father's will even though it meant the cross because he knew something that we often forget.
Sometimes what looks like defeat is actually the pathway to the greatest victory. Paul learned this lesson deeply. He had that thorn in his flesh, whatever it was, and three times he begged God to remove it. Three times. This is the Apostle Paul who'd seen the risen Christ, who'd been caught up to the third heaven, who had resurrected the dead. Surely, if anyone's prayers would be answered quickly, it would be his. But God's response wasn't what Paul expected.
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9. God was saying, Paul, stop trying to control this. I'm doing something in your weakness that couldn't happen in your strength. You're reflecting my light most brilliantly when you're not trying to generate your own. This is where the rubber meets the road in our daily lives. You've been praying for that job and every door keeps closing.
You can either panic and try to force something open or you can trust that God is redirecting you towards something better. Your marriage is struggling and you've tried everything you know how to fix it. You can either keep trying to control your spouse in the situation or you can release it to God and focus on letting his love flow through you. Your health isn't improving despite all the prayers, all the treatments. You can either grow bitter and demanding or you can trust that even in this God is working something beyond what you can see. The scripture tells us, "Trust in Yahweh with all your heart and don't lean on your own understanding." and all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your path straight.
Proverbs 3:5 and 6. Notice it doesn't say and he will follow your planned route. It says he will make your path straight, but they're his paths for you, not your paths for yourself. The paths he chooses might wind through valleys you'd rather avoid. They might go over mountains you don't think you can climb, through seasons that seem to make no sense. But he sees the full picture. You don't.
He knows where the bridges are washed out on the route you want to take. He knows where the treasures are hidden on the path he's chosen for you that you think you'd rather avoid. I think about Moses, 80 years old, thinking his chance to deliver Israel had long passed. 40 years earlier, he tried to control the situation, killing an Egyptian to protect his people. It backfired spectacularly and he ended up a fugitive tending sheep in the wilderness. But God wasn't finished with him. At that burning bush, when Moses had released all his ambitions, all his plans, all his need to be the hero, that's when God said, "Now you're ready."
The very reluctance Moses felt, his awareness that he couldn't do it in his own strength made him the perfect reflector for God's power. Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? Moses asked in Exodus 3:11. Exactly, Moses. Who are you? You're not the light. You're the mirror.
And that's precisely what qualifies you. You see, when we try to control everything, we're essentially saying, "God, I don't trust you to handle this." We're like children insisting on carrying a package too heavy for us while our father walks behind us with empty capable hands just waiting for us to let him help. That anxiety you feel, the sleepless nights, the constant strategizing, these are all symptoms of carrying weight you were never meant to bear. Jesus said, "Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest." In Matthew 11:28.
But we can't receive that rest while our hands are still white knuckling the steering wheel of our lives. Peter had to learn this the hard way. After denying Jesus three times, he went back to what he could control. Fishing. At least with fishing, he knew what to do. Cast nets, haul them in, sell the fish. Simple, controllable, safe.
But after a night of catching nothing, Jesus appeared on the shore and told them to cast their nets on the other side of the boat. When they did, the nets were so full they couldn't haul them in. It was Jesus' gentle way of saying, "Peter, even in the thing you think you can control, you need my guidance. Stop trying to go back to managing your own life. Let me lead." And when Peter finally surrendered that need for control, he became a pillar of the first century church. The Apostle Paul captured this beautifully when he wrote, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
The life I now live in the body I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20. This is the ultimate release of control, recognizing that it's not even our life anymore. We're not trying to manage our own existence. We're letting Christ live his life through us. We're mirrors, remember? We don't need to generate our own light.
We can't. We are meant to reflect it. And mirrors don't get to choose which rays they reflect. They simply stay clean and properly align towards a light source. And the reflection happens naturally.
So, what area of your life are you still trying to control today? Where are you saying, "God, I'll handle this part myself." Maybe it's your career and you're networking frantically, sending out resumes obsessively trying to make something happen. Or maybe it's a relationship and you're trying to manipulate circumstances to make someone notice you or change their behavior. Perhaps it's your children and you're attempting to orchestrate every aspect of their lives to ensure they turn out quote right. Or it could be your health, your finances, your reputation. any area where you're gripping so tightly that your knuckles have turned white.
Here's what I know to be true. The very thing you're trying so hard to control is probably the thing God most wants you to release to him because it's in that release that miracles happen. It's in that surrender that the divine light can shine through you most brilliantly. When Paul and Silas were in prison, they didn't try to pick the locks or plan an escape. They sang hymns. They released control. And God sent an earthquake that opened every door and loosened every chain.
But here's the amazing part. They didn't even leave. They had so thoroughly released control that they stayed put, trusting God's plan, and ended up leading the jailer and his entire household to faith. Jesus showed us the ultimate example of releasing control in the garden of Gethsemane. Facing the cross, knowing the agony that awaited him, he prayed. My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me. Nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.
Matthew 26:39. Even the Son of God, the perfect mirror, modeled for us what it means to release control of outcomes and trust the Father's plan. And because he did, because he didn't call down those 12 legions of angels, because he surrendered to what looked like defeat, you and I can be forgiven, transformed, and filled with divine light. The truth is, my friends, we're all in recovery from being control addicts. We've believed the lie that if we just try hard enough, plan well enough, worry thoroughly enough, we can ensure the outcomes we want. But that's exhausting, isn't it? It's like trying to hold water in your hands.
The tighter you squeeze, the more it escapes through your fingers. God is inviting us into something so much better. A life of trust, of rest, of allowing his divine nature to flow through us without obstruction. When you release control, you're not becoming passive. You're becoming receptive. There's a huge difference. Passive people do nothing and expect God to do everything.
Receptive people do what God leads them to do and trust him with the results. They work but from rest. They act but from peace. They plan but hold those plans loosely, ready to adjust when God redirects. Think about Mary, the mother of Jesus. When the angel told her she would bear the Messiah, she didn't say, "Great. Let me tell you how I think this should work."
She didn't present a 5-year plan for the Messiah's arrival. She simply said,"I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:38. Complete release, total trust. And because of that surrender, she became the vessel through which the light of the world entered human history. The scriptures promise us, "We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose."
Romans 8:28. all things. Not just the things that go according to our plan, not just the things we understand. All things. But this promise requires trust. It requires us to believe that God sees what we can't see, knows what we don't know, and is working even when we can't perceive it. So, here's my challenge for you today.
What do you need to release? What are you holding so tightly to that it's actually holding you? Maybe it's time to open your hands and say, "God, I've been trying to be the source when you designed me to be a mirror. I've been trying to generate light when you created me to reflect yours. I release control of the situation. I trust your timing. I trust your methods.
I trust your heart." Because here's the beautiful truth. When you release control, you don't lose anything that was truly yours. You actually gain everything God has been trying to give you. The peace that passes understanding, the joy that doesn't depend on circumstances, the love that flows effortlessly because it's not coming from your limited reservoir, but from his infinite ocean. You become who you were always meant to be. Not a stressed out manager of the universe, but a peaceful, radiant reflector of divine light.
The same Jesus who said those hard words about being the bread of life. The same Jesus who watched many disciples walk away because they couldn't release control of their understanding. That same Jesus also said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives gives I to you. Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful." John 14:27.
That peace is available to you right now in this moment. Not when everything is fixed. Not when all your prayers are answered the way you want. Right now, but you can only receive it with open hands. So today, let's make a choice. Let's choose to trust the one who spoke galaxies into existence can handle our little situations. Let's choose to believe that his plans, though different from ours, are infinitely better.
Let's choose to be mirrors, gratefully reflecting the light we receive rather than exhausting ourselves trying to be sources of our own illumination. Because when we do, when we truly release control, we discover that we haven't lost anything at all. We finally found the freedom, the peace, and the joy we were trying to control our way into all along. The light shines brightest through a mirror that's simply aligned, not straining. Rest in that today. Release control and watch what God does when you do. Let this be our prayer.
Aba, Father, we confess we've been trying to be the source when you designed us to be mirrors. We've held so tightly to our plans, our timelines, our methods, thinking we know best. Forgive us for our lack of trust. Today we release control. We release our grip on outcomes. We surrender our need to understand everything. We choose to trust your heart, your timing, your ways.
Help us to rest in the truth that Christ lives in us. That your divine light flows through us when we simply stay aligned with you. Teach us the freedom that comes from surrender, the peace that comes from trust, and the joy that comes from letting you be God. We release it all to you now, knowing that in your hands, everything is exactly where it needs to be. In Jesus' name, amen.
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