I Give You Control

Have you ever had someone try taking you to a surprise location? Your friend gets you in the car and then won't tell you where you're going. If you're like me, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out where you're going. Based on the direction, you might even think you know where you're going. So you try to plan ahead - what you'll do when you get there, what you need to have there. Not that you can do anything about it, but you try.

So you're riding along, ready to go to the place you have determined is your destination. Just ahead of you, you see the exit you'll have to take. But the driver doesn't seem to realize that she is about to pass the exit. Finally, you say something; you let them know you're about to pass the exit.

"I know," says your friend, but she keeps driving.

That's when you try to take the wheel. You know where you're supposed to be going, and you don't intend to pass it.

Finally, your friend gives in and lets you steer her down the exit ramp. But once you let go of the wheel, she doesn't turn like you expect her to. Instead, she continues driving straight ahead, back up the entrance ramp to the highway.

"What are you doing?" you ask.

"Taking you where I promised you we would go."

"But you just passed it. We were supposed to follow that road."

"I never said that." Your friend looks at you lovingly. "You just assumed. I have plans to go somewhere much better." She smiles and returns her eyes to the road ahead.

Remember when you left that full service gas station and decided to let God come along? When you first get on the road, is He in the passenger seat or is He driving?

When I first let God in the car, when I first started letting Him be a part of my life outside of church, He was most definitely in the passenger seat. I asked Him for input on where I should go. I enjoyed talking to Him and spending time with Him. But He was definitely not in control. I still had my own plans, and I was set on following them. I thought I knew where God wanted to take me, so I started driving there.

Last school year, God threw in some new instructions. I chose to follow them. That's when confusion ensued. These new instructions turned me away from my plans. Kind of. He didn't completely change my direction, but He did adjust it.

Just because I chose to follow those instructions didn't mean it was easy. All of a sudden, I had no clue where I was going. I still knew which way I was heading, but I didn't know my destination anymore. It was rough because I still wanted to know. Without knowing, I didn't have a lot of control. In essence, I had allowed God to take me past what I thought was my exit, but I still wanted to be driving. I wanted to know where I was going so I could get there.

But God didn't want me to know. He wanted me to trust Him. He wanted me to give Him control. It was hard, but I finally did it. I learned how to say, "I don't know." I learned how to be alright with just letting God direct me where He wanted without begging for directions so I could get myself there. I knew He would tell me His plan when the time was right.

The only problem is that giving God control means that He does eventually get off the highway. He eventually takes an exit, whether it's an exit you like or not.

That happened to me this summer. Well, kind of. I'm not actually to the exit yet, but I can see it, and I can see that God is steering me in that direction.

To put it simply, I was not happy when I noticed where God was starting to steer me. That direction (and ultimately the destination it leads to) scares me. If I had still had plans, it would have completely changed them. One thing is for sure. It was something I never wanted to do. At all.

My solution - I tried to take the wheel back. I tried to get back in the driver's seat. I wanted to continue down the highway without knowing where it would lead. The thing is, not knowing wasn't stretching me anymore. It wasn't making me grow. And, well, God wants me to grow.

So if I wanted to let Him stay in control, I actually had to accept that I have an idea of His plans for my life, even if I don't know the specifics. It gives me a lot more room to grow. If for no other reason, because I have to prepare for that new destination. But more than anything, I have to learn how to really trust God and where He's taking me more than I ever have before. For me, it took a realization of two things to be able to leave God in control.

Number one. I had to realize where my purpose comes from. If I'm not living in God's purpose for my life, then I don't really have a purpose at all. And if I don't really have a purpose, I'm not going to be happy with my future. Simple, but still not easy to accept.

Number two. I can't fight with God. I've never been able to. I've tried. And I always fail. For two reasons. The first being fairly obvious. He's God. Eventually, God will get His way. Even if He finds someone else to do the job, He gets it done.

The second reason is that I care a lot about what God wants from me. I don't want to disappoint Him. I see Him as my Daddy, as my Best Friend. So I really want to make Him proud of me, to make Him happy with what I do. So even when I do decide I want to fight Him to get my way, I end up fighting myself at the same time. I end up fighting myself over whether I will let God win or force my own way when I know it's not the best way for me to go. And again, God ends up winning.

When God reminded me of that, I finally told Him yes. I told Him that I would let Him stay in control. I would let Him continue to direct me. I'm still not sure I actually want to go where I think He's taking me, but I know I will want to by the time He gets me there. And I'm willing to start heading there now, even though I know I'm not ready to be there. And that's what is important right now. I'm letting God move me toward that exit lane and moving forward at His rate.

He's teaching me to listen. He's teaching me to be a leader of His people. He's teaching me to trust Him with everything. And He's taking me to His destination for me one step at a time. He has control.

I hope you'll give God control of your life too. Let Him do more than fill you. Let Him drive you too. It's a day-by-day choice, though. You can give Him control one day and try to wrestle it back the next, but once you get used to it, giving Him control isn't as difficult as it was initially. It gets easier every time you do it.

Sit back and relax. You're the passenger on this journey of life. Let God take you where He wants and watch what He does. The things He takes you through will amaze you. And the final destination will be even more beautiful than the road there.

Take the Wheel

Now you’ve pulled into that full service station. You’ve got enough fuel to keep going. You’re ready to get back on the road and keep driving.

You put the key in the ignition and put the car in gear. As you’re about to move your foot from the break to the gas pedal, you look up. The attendant is still standing there. You’re confused. He already did his job of filling your gas tank, and you paid. What else could he possibly want? So you step on the gas and pull out, leaving the attendant standing there.

Why would the attendant still be standing there? There could be two reasons (at least that I can think of). Number one: he wants to talk to you some more, to get to know you more. (Yes, I know that would be strange in today’s society.) Number two: there’s more that he can do to prepare you for your journey.

Now, back to your driving. You've got a full tank of gas. You are fully capable of continuing to drive. Well, at least you thought so. You forgot that you needed power steering fluid. When you try to turn, it's much harder than it should be. Then you look at your windshield. Suddenly, it seems filthy. Even in the few places you can see, it's difficult and obstructed by all the dust and dead flies on the window. You have to slow down drastically to avoid crashing. Then you look down at your dashboard. The oil light is on, and you have no clue how long it's been on. That's when you feel the gears in your car start locking into place. Even though the car has the fuel to keep going, it's resisting movement.

That's when you look up at your rearview mirror. You're still fairly close to the gas station. That's when you see him. The attendant is still sitting there waiting on you. He knows you're about to come back.

Again, that attendant waiting for you to return is God. When you leave your time with Him, He stays. He stays because He wants more time with you. He wants to know you better. And He knows that you need more from Him.

It's important to stay full of God's Love. His Love give you the energy and the ability you need to keep moving. But His Love does so much more than that. In a sense, God's Love can be your fuel, your power steering fluid, your oil and your window cleaner. You just have to let Him work on all those areas of your life.

There are times during your walk with God that you're going to need to change directions. When you're spending time with God, that change of directions is much easier. We're confident in His direction and our ability to hear from Him. We're confident in our ability to follow what He has told us to do. No matter how much resistance we face from other people, God's Love is there to bless us and help us make that turn. It's like our power steering fluid.

No matter where you are in life, you need direction. You need to know when to turn or when to continue in the direction you're headed. But without someone telling you where to go and when, it can get hard. More than one decision might seem like the right one. No decision may seem right. That's another reason we need to spend time with God. He is our window washer. God is the only one who knows where each path will lead us if we take it. So when we listen to Him, He'll make it clear where He wants us to go and how to get there. He'll show us the next step on our journeys. We won't have to slow down to try to figure out where to go. We'll be able to hear His direction right away when we spend time with Him.

Then there's those directions God gives us that we don't want to follow. He tells us something that scares us or that completely goes against all our plans. Or it just doesn't make sense. If we're not spending time with Him, not receiving a continual outpouring of His Love, we'll lock up. Even if we can see where He wants us to go and we can tell that He's making it possible, we resist. We quit moving because we don't want to go where He's taking us. But when we spend time with Him, we learn to trust Him. We know that He Loves us too much to send us somewhere we'll hate or somewhere we won't succeed. We learn to trust that His plans are better than we can imagine and that they're truly good for us. So no matter how much we don't want to, we'll trust His plans and direction, His Love, enough to obey. We won't lock up when He tells us to go those places we don't want to go. We'll run like a well-oiled machine.

God wants to do all that for us. He wants to give us enough Love, wants us to experience His Love, so much so that we stay full. We keep coming back so we stay full of Him. We keep coming back so He can help us through those tough times. So He can give us clear direction. So we'll obey His direction. But He wants more than that.

He wants that time with us so He can have a relationship with us. He never wants us to leave Him. But He knows that we can't just stay in one place forever. And if we did, it would defeat our purpose as His children. We're supposed to be a witness to other people, so we can't always stay alone with God.

That's why God asks to be a constant part of our lives. When we pull away from the station, when we leave that time alone with Him, He still wants to be with us. We need to let Him into the car. And since He's the one who really knows what He's doing anyway, we may as well move over and let Him take the wheel. Let Him not only take care of our lives, but control them. That's when we'll really stay full of Him.

The Cup in Your Hand

Last week, God retaught me the lesson that I need to be filled with more of Him and His Love everyday. Hopefully, this time I actually learned it. But this weekend, I got to go on a retreat, a whole weekend dedicated to letting Him refill me. And He continued to teach me.

If you read what I wrote last week, you know how I compared being filled with God and His Love to a car that is filled with gasoline. Having that quality time with Him is like pulling into the gas station. Now, here's something else to think about. That gas station is full service.

Think about a full service gas station. What do drivers have to do there? They don't have to do anything. All they have to do is tell the attendant what they want, what they need, and allow the attendant to take care of it. All have they have to do is pull into the station. When they pull into the station, the attendant asks them what they need done to the car, and does it. Then they pay the attendant and keep driving.

Being filled with God is really similar. He is a full service God. First we have to take the time and make the effort to spend time with Him. He's waiting there for us. As soon as we get alone with Him, He's ready to come fill us up. He comes to us and waits for us to tell Him what we want and what we need. Once we tell Him, He waits for us to open our hearts to receive from Him. When we do that, He goes to work. He starts filling our hearts and our lives. And it's wonderful.

It's beautiful to know you are full and to be confident that you can continue moving forward until time for the next refilling. It's beautiful to know that you didn't have to expend any energy to fill up. All you had to do was sit back and drink from the cup God holds out to you.

Just like the attendant at the gas station expects payment, God expects something in return to. He asks that you just love Him back. That's all.

Then, you can go out and keep running. Just like a car that leaves the gas station with a full tank can keep driving. You can go out and follow the road God wants you to take. You run the race He has given you. You show people how to get to Him and when it is time, you go back and get refilled. You just make sure that it's before you start running on empty again.

Yep. That's what being filled means.

Fill Me

Ever heard one of those lessons that you seem to have to learn over and over again? Particularly a lesson that costs you the first time, yet you still have to learn it more than once? Maybe a mild lesson of this sort would be that you shouldn't stay out past 1 a.m. when you have a full schedule (starting with an 8 a.m. class) the next day.

Well, I have. In fact, I've been relearning a lesson this week. The sad thing: it's the second time in the last three months that I've had to learn this lesson. And the last time wasn't the first time either. This might only be the second time I've experienced it at this magnitude, but I have lost count of how many times I've had to go through it.

And what makes it even harder to admit that I've had to relearn it again... It's a simple lesson.

I can't run on empty.

It's an easy concept right? When a car runs out of gas it dies. When a runner has no more energy, he stops. Pretty easy to understand. So why is it so hard to apply?

Let's look at this way. If the driver knows his car will die if he or she doesn't put more gas in it, why doesn't he or she put more gas in it? There could be a few reasons. Maybe he's in a hurry and is hoping the gas will last him until he gets to his destination and back to the gas station. Maybe she's out of money and doesn't think she can afford to pay the high price of gas. Maybe he's on a long road trip and passes the last gas station for miles thinking he has enough gas to get to the next one.

Now, let's look at the consequences of these actions. For the man who's in a hurry, what happens? He gets to his destination, but just barely. When it's time to leave and go to the next place, he can't start the car and is late getting everywhere else he is supposed to go that day. How about the woman who doesn't think she has enough money to pay for gas? She gets stuck on the side of the highway and has to call a tow truck, another expense on top of paying for a full tank of gas anyway. What about the guy on the road trip? He gets five miles out of town and has to turn around and walk back to fill up his gas can, only to have to turn the car around long enough to get to the gas station and fill it up again.

How does this apply to my life? I don't have a car, and I've never run out of gas when I was driving. But you see, time alone with Jesus, soaking up His Love is, is my "gas," my "fuel." And even if you don't know it yet, it's yours too.

God wants to spend time with us. Because He Loves us. So He made us so that we would need to spend time with Him too. And we need daily refueling.

We just let so many things get in the way. We get in a hurry, so we don't stop long enough to listen to His voice, to listen to Him telling us He Loves us. We try to save our time by not having quality time with Him. Guess what that means. We stress out more than we did in the first place which just makes us take longer getting done with everything else we need to get done. When we pass up a chance to receive His Love, it often seems to take too long getting to the next natural opportunity, and we have to make the time.

We can't do what God asks to do when we're running on empty. We can't show people His Love without being filled with it ourselves. We can't keep doing His work without the spiritual energy to do so. Loving others, working for God, those things require a continuous pouring out.

And when we're pouring out, we must continuously be refilling. Spending time with Him. Listening to His voice. Thanking Him for the gifts He gives us. Acknowledging the things He does for us. Letting Him wrap us in His arms. Letting Him speak your Love language and taking the time to listen to Him as He does so.

I promise, it's worth it.

Pierce the Dark

"I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in Me will no longer remain in the dark." - John 12:46



If you were to go on an excursion, when would you use a torch? Would you use it during the day or in the dark of night? If you're like most people, you use it at night. Why? The torch shines just as brightly in the light of day as it does after dark. So there must be a reason that it is only used in darkness.


There's a simple explanation. A torch pales in comparison to the light of the sun. It doesn't even make a noticeable difference in its surroundings.


It's kind of like God's light in a Christian's life. A torch is needed more when it is dark. God's light is needed more where darkness is overwhelming. Yes, we are supposed to let our light shine. Yes, we are supposed to make that light visible to those around us.


But there's more to it than that.


God wants us to do more than shine. He wants us to carry His light into the darkest places. That's where He is needed the most. He wants us to carry His light to those places where people cannot see what is holding them back. Those places where people have given up all hope. Because His light illuminates their lives and their paths. It brings hope when they can see what is coming next.


It's hard. I'll be honest. Carrying God's light into those dark places is hard. And it can be scary. Evil loves darkness because it can hide there. But just because we can't see those obstacles or anything coming our way doesn't mean we shouldn't go. In fact, it's the very reason why we should. If things look hopeless from the outside, imagine how the people trapped in it feel. Carrying God's light there eliminates that hopelessness. First of all, it allows the torch bearer to see what is around him or her - including the good that was originally hidden and can now give him or her hope. Secondly, it draws other people to the Light; it allows them to see a difference and to see hope and shows them how to light their own torch.


That Light God wants us to carry is amazing. It can't be explained or even understood. But earlier this year, God helped me understand a part of it by comparing it to the Olympic torch. The Olympic torch is actually quite fascinating. Obviously, the relay is different every Olympic year, but the torch has been transported through some very interesting places and in interesting ways. But there is one thing that really stands out to me right now.


The Olympic torch has been carried through places that should have extinguished its light - including underwater.


God used this fact to teach me the most important thing about His Light. Nothing can extinguish it. Have you ever carried a candle into a dark room and had the flame go out on you just because it was dark? Of course not. In fact, the light from the candle actually got rid of the darkness. God's Light inside of us is the same way. Nothing can extinguish it - not rules or laws or pressure from people. Not even Satan himself can extinguish that Light.


So carry His Light. Don't be complacent about it. Just because the Light inside of you is shining doesn't mean everyone can see it. The people who need it the most are so lost in darkness that they will only see His Light if you carry Him to them. So do it. Pierce the darkness with the Light of the World.

Take Our Place

Suppose a friend has promised you an amazing house - a house for you and your children and your grandchildren to live in forever. All you have to do is complete a challenge and then step onto the property. And your friend will even help you complete the challenge. What would you do?

Well, I hope you're not like the children of Israel who came out of slavery in Egypt. The God who rescued them out of slavery promised them a land overflowing with milk and honey. It was a land they and their descendants would be able to live in forever. He would help them overcome all the enemies who stood in their way.

But the children of Israel saw the size of their enemies. They saw their enemies, and they were scared. So instead of going into the Promised Land, they turned away and ran. They told their God, "We don't believe you can do this. We're scared. We don't want what you've promised us." (In essence anyway. You won't actually find that as a verse in the Bible.)

So what happened? They were made to wander in the desert for forty years. Until God had raised up a generation who would take Him at His Word. A generation with leaders who would step up and say they could win. With leaders who obeyed God. A generation who would take possession of their promise.

You see? There's a secret to receiving God's promises. God doesn't just give them to you. He makes them available and provides a way for you to possess it. But you have a part in it. 

You have to trust Him. You have to know what He says is true. You have to know that His promises are good. You have to know that He will help you take them.

You have to obey Him. When God says to go, you go. When He says to stop, you stop. When He speaks, you listen. When He says to believe, you believe. When He says to watch in wonder at the work He does, you watch in wonder as He does it.

You have to face the obstacles in your way. Getting to what God has promised you isn't always easy. There's normally something in the way of your promise. For the Israelites, it was the Canaanites and the city of Jericho. For you, it could be lack of resources or funds. It could be an extremely large task. Or it could just be that you are surrounded by people who don't believe what God told you. Either way, you have to look past it at what God has promised you. Then you have to trust that He'll move that obstacle out of your way, that He'll destroy anything that comes against you.

Finally, you have to actually take possession of the promise. When it is in your hands, in your grasp, don't let it go. Don't give your promise to someone God did not promise it to. It's your promise. Don't let someone else take control of it.

It takes a generation.

So, will you accept the promise? Will you possess it? God needs us to take back what He gave us.

So join with me. Let's be "a generation, rising up to take their place."

Take the Leap

Imagine you are standing at the edge of a high dive. Ten meters below you is a pool so deep you don't even know how far down the bottom is. You've never been this high. You've only gone off the low diving board. You've never been in water that deep before. And you're scared. Your coach is telling you that you can do it. He's never let you down before. Why would He now?

Now, I have a slightly different picture to paint for you. See that picture right above this? That was taken my last day at City of Refuge Children's Home in Jamaica. That window my friend and I are leaning out of has a ledge maybe about two feet below it. But after that ledge, there is nothing but a very steep mountain. And yes, we are leaning out of it without holding onto anything (well, except for our feet being stuck under the picnic table in front of the window).

But there is a funny story behind this picture. You see? The first few days we were in Jamaica, this friend kept leaning out the window. Several of us watching her were definitely freaking out. And I was one of the people freaking out initially. Then on our third day at the home, she tried to get me to do it with her. After I about had a heart attack once or twice from her doing it, you'd think she would know my answer, but it still took a few times telling her no for her to quit asking.

Well, you'd think after a year of hanging out with this friend I would know that I may as well not ever tell her no on stuff like that. Because it seems I always end up doing it later. About five minutes after she quit asking, I decided I wanted to do it. The only thing was that by that time, I had two things keeping me from doing it. One - I had just told her no about five times. (Yes, I can be that stubborn when I want to be.) Two - I was still scared.

We had dinner. We did devotions with the children. We played games. We went back to our room. I forgot about it. At least I thought I did.

Back in my room that night I was having some quiet time. I was reading my Bible, praying, listening to God. Apparently, God didn't forget about it. Well, before I closed my journal and went to bed, I really felt like God was telling me I needed to lean out that window, that He wanted to teach me something through it. So I wrote down in my journal that I would do it first thing in the morning the next day.

The next morning, I woke up. Before breakfast I made sure I leaned out the window. Surprisingly enough, I had fun doing it. I didn't get it right away, but by the end of the next day I did. God wanted to show me that the things I'm scared of, aren't worth being scared of. They actually end up being enjoyable. All I have to do is trust Him and act.

I'll be honest. I still haven't applied that lesson to much this year other than riding a few rides at amusement parks that previously terrified me. I got to thinking about that last week after riding one particularly "scary" ride that I loved. I wanted to know why God would teach me something that I hadn't had to use.

As I sat there talking to a friend about it, I was reminded of a verse I had read the night before. "I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father."


I got to thinking about that. God expects us to do things even greater than what Jesus did while He was on this earth. That's some pretty big deal stuff. I mean, come on. Jesus raised people from the dead with just a few words. He walked on water. He healed blind people. That's a lot to live up to. Honestly, it's scary.

God asks us to do scary stuff. He asks us to talk to people we've never met. He asks us to share His Word, His life and His freedom with them. He asks us to pray for people, lay our hands on them and watch them receive His healing. He asks us to bring people back to life spiritually by introducing them to Him. A lot of times, we're too scared to do it - scared of what people will think, scared of rejection, scared of failure.

But here's the thing. God still expects us to do what He asks. We don't have to be afraid. Just like He wanted me to lean out that window, He wants you to dive head first into all He has for you. He's really the one doing all the work. Even if we do fall, He's there to catch us. But He won't let us fall because He loves us too much. He believes we can do greater works than Jesus. He told us we will do greater works than Jesus did. Then He gave us His Spirit to ensure that we could do it and do it without fear.

So you're still on that high dive. You're standing there. You hear your coach telling you that you can do it. It's time. Go ahead and just dive.