Good Morning! Can you tell that I always begin with that? It is because a majority of my time that I write is in the morning before the rooster crows and it is a beautiful hush of quietness in my house. I LOVE IT! I am very stingy with my hush quiet time in the mornings!

When I was younger I can remember my Mama used to do the same thing. She reacted the same way. I think I know where I get it from now! 🙂

If any of my family members were to join us here today then I can tell you they will confirm to you that I have COME A LONG WAY when you bring up the topic control freak. I walked in this bondage (seriously) in a crippling way for a long time. I am sure I have some lingering tendencies that I brush off as “being a good steward of my time” but for the most part, I feel like God has walked me through a time of ridding myself of the idea that I needed to control every area of my life. The guy who hung the moon and the stars and had the sun to come up this morning really can take care of my problems! What a freedom I have felt!

It has something to do with the point in which I got so sick with the pancreatitis and couldn’t control ANY BODILY FUNCTIONS for many weeks that God brought me to my knees to realize…

Life was not all about me.

Well, that was the title on the first page on our teaching booklet for the retreat I attended last weekend… “Control Freak.” I don’t like that word. It paints a picture of a stiff-necked, haughty, selfish individual that I don’t like. I don’t think Jesus likes it either.

Most times when we have control problems it is because the bottom line is that there are FEARS that grip us in those areas. So instead, we try to control things that we fear most.

Letting go means you are no longer fearful of who you are letting go to…fearful of how they will handle the situation…and fearful of what the results will look like.

God tells me in his Word how He desires us to not have fears. Just that simple.

David had fears. Psalms 143:4 ” I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear.”

How many of us walk away from God’s BEST plan because we are paralyzed with fear?

There are areas of our life that we need to SURRENDER control over to God. Our life should be all about walking closer with the Most High God. In order to do that He has to be the MOST HIGH in our life. Most of these Fears can be summed up in 4 areas.

Provision
Pleasure
Protection
Personal relationships

I’ve decided today to start with provision and pleasure and save the last 2 for my next post. Just to not overwhelm you with too much. It was a lot for me to digest. The scriptures that we were taught with each of these have been amazing for me to soak up. I have parked myself in each one of them for a bit to have a cup of coffee with Jesus and ask Him… do I try to control these areas? How? Show me!

Let’s look at the first one.

1 – PROVISION: Will I have what I need? Will God really provide?
How many times do we worry over those things that in reality we didn’t have control over in the first place. Does God provide to those that call on Him…I mean really call on Him?

I learned this several years ago when my husband decided to take a different track in his professional life. He wasn’t experiencing the same joy that he had long ago when he started. God was doing a “shifting” in us and we knew it. But stepping out and trusting God with providing a job and pay…that was a whole nother’ thing! (*some southern slang*) I mean I can trust you Jesus with my children, with my friendships but MY POCKETBOOK…are you kidding?

Looking back, that was the best thing God could have done for us! Trusting God every time we paid the bills and realizing that if God can feed those beautiful birds outside my door every morning then He certainly cares about me too.

Hebrews 13:5 “Don’t love money, be satisfied with what you have. For God said, “I will never fail you nor abandon you.”

Philippians 4:19 “And my God shall supply (richly fill) your every need in a glorious way through Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7 Never worry about anything, but in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and request while giving thanks.”

Aren’t those scriptures the most awesome truths!? Ok…the second area that we tend to control because of our fears.

2- Pleasures: This is where the question comes in of “will I be happy?” I have heard it said twice this week…God didn’t come to Earth to die on a cross and save us to make us “happy”. No where in the Bible are we promised that we will be happy all the time. Yes, there is plenty of promises about Joy, but Joy is not happiness. There is a certain spiritual depth that allows us to have Joy when we are in the midst of a trial because we KNOW WHO OUR GOD IS!

James 1:2-4 is one of my favorites but it took a bit of time for me to swallow this scripture years ago.
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

Did you know that the word Joy means to literally jump up and down. I had a bible teacher once that would make me get up, in the middle of me telling him all my woes and troubles, and jump up and down like a jumping idiot! It was hilarious in the moment but I got the message. That is what true Joy is about.

God has pleasures for us that we don’t sometimes even realize are waiting in the balances for us. Look at this scripture…

Psalms 16:11 “You will show me your path of life; in your presence is fullness of Joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

You know that when Jesus died he went to be at the right hand of the Father. The Right hand seat is a very important place. And all throughout the Old Testament we see where when blessings were brought forth or even miracles done with out stretched hands it was done through the RIGHT HAND. I want those pleasures that come from the RIGHT HAND being stretched out towards me! Those are the pleasures that are for real! WHEW! Love it!

Let’s keep the discussion going…share in the comment section where God may be pressing you to relinquish control over a certain area or lay at the foot of the cross the fear that most grips you. You never know when it could minister to our other friends, your boldness to just mention it. I have learned this week that sometimes those things that Satan keeps telling us to “keep to ourselves” and deal with it on our own is really a ploy that the enemy doesn’t want us to use it for God’s Glory!

Bless you as you absorb these things! Please come back to get the rest of these notes – it will be so worth it! You might even consider subscribing to receive my posts to your email when they are updated. You can do that on the right of this page up at the top underneath my 3 little princesses picture. 🙂 You will get an email confirming that you do want to subscribe so don’t forget to check that in order to finish the subscription process.

Also, got a little prayer request….I have jury duty this week…you can imagine what life is going to look like trying to juggle everyone’s schedules and be up at the court-house with my attention focused on those things. Pray that I see Jesus and will have opportunities to share Him with someone…or someone share some of Jesus with me! There is a purpose for me going…other than my community service! *smiles*