As we finish our study on relinquishing control of our lives to God, I must admit, that I sometimes have difficulty letting go, and so this study has been good for me. This month we’ve been looking at following God’s leading, even when things don’t go the way we expected or wanted. Philippians 3:20-21 says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (ESV) The important part of this Scripture is that all things are subject to Jesus, and that includes us, our will, and our lives.
In his commentary on Philippians, J. Vernon McGee states that citizenship in this passage means “the total way of life.” Everything we do and say should be as it is in Heaven. He says, “Today, believers, collectively called the church, should be a colony of heaven, and they ought to act like they act in heaven and speak the language of heaven. Unfortunately, this is not always the case, but it should be our goal.” When we allow God to have control over every aspect of our lives, we show others what Heaven sounds like and looks like.
We as Believers, must surrender everything to Him even in our darkest trial. Allow Him to have control. Too often, though, we want to sit in the driver’s seat and head down a road that will lead us off the chosen pathway and that can get us into trouble. There are times when we can be stubborn and refuse to go in the right direction, and then we find ourselves in a big mess because of our stubbornness. That’s when we must stop, find our way back, and go in the right direction. I’ve seen people who were so certain they were on the right road only to find themselves lost. They had to backtrack to where they veered off the path and go in a different direction. It can also be that way in our daily walk with Jesus.
There are other times when we can get confused because we are not paying close enough attention to where we are going. I remember a time when my first husband and I took a trip, and we were following the map through a town we’d never been to before. We got ourselves lost because my hubby, who was driving, got confused with the map. We had to pull over into a gas station and ask for directions. Now, we didn’t veer off the pathway on purpose, we just got a little confused by the directions on the map. We weren’t paying close enough attention to where it was guiding us. Thankfully, we weren’t too far off from where we were supposed to be and got back on the right road. We can do that also in our walk with the Lord. We can be so entangled with what is going on around us that we lose our focus.
The Bible reminds us, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” (Proverbs 19:21 ESV) God’s ways are far better than our own. He knows what is best for us and we must be obedient to His leadership. We can make our plans, but ultimately, it is God who directs us. “The mind of man plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9 NASB 1995)
Allowing Jesus to take the wheel, sit in the driver’s seat, and lead us down the road He has planned for us, is always the best avenue to take. We will find ourselves with a heart full of peace, even during the darkest days of our lives, and we will see how He works everything out for our good. (Romans 8:28)
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