Control, the thing that has the ability to drive us crazy and keep us sane all at once. If you are anything like me, you try to control time. I hate being late, so all of my clocks are set to five minutes ahead. I schedule each of my days, on four different calendars. I schedule in my free time so that I know exactly how much time I have in a day to cram in extra stuff or to do nothing.
Maybe you try to control others. Do you try to consistently act a certain way around others in order to control their feelings toward you? Do you give advice even when someone did not ask for any? Do you delegate responsibilities and then stand over people to make sure the tasks get completed exactly how you would do them?
Maybe you try to control your circumstances. Do you get anxious when things do not go to plan? Do you always have a plan B, C, D, E, and maybe L? Do you respond in a very negative manner when it rains unexpectedly, the cookies burn, or you run out of eggs?
Speaking of eggs... eggs are used in cooking specifically as an emulsifier. An emulsifier, in cooking, adds cohesive properties to the mixture. If you have ever made cookies, you notice that the dough becomes less crumbly once the eggs are added. It keeps all of the ingredients together. What does this have to do with being obsessed with control?
Control is a lot like the eggs in the mixture of our life. We feel that as long as we have control, our life will stay together, it will be cohesive and make sense. When we unexpectedly run out of eggs, we feel lost, we feel confused and undone and so we scramble for that control we are so obsessed with. Enter Plan B and so on. The trouble with this is that, in reality, control is an illusion.
When we become obsessed with control, we miss the beauty of spontaneity. While there is definitely a place and time for order, life happens and flexibility is a hugely imperative life skill. When we become obsessed with control, we tend to be disappointed a lot. Dwelling in disappointment takes a toll on someone's emotional health, their view of themselves, view of others and their ability to trust. We learn from the Bible that hope does not disappoint because of the love that the Lord has poured out for us through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). We should hope, we should plan, but we should not seek to control that which is essentially out of our hands. Leaving the uncontrollable up to God will give you more peace than the imagined structure ever did.
"A man may make his plans, but the Lord ordains his steps" (Proverbs 16:9).
