Out of Control

How often does something enter in to your life that makes you realize your utter lack of control over things. Not necessarily "will I get this presentation done on time", but "will I make it through the day". Our lives are so much driven by our desire for our own outcomes. What we think is right.

Now I am not saying we shouldn't plan or set goals and what not. Let me share a couple of things.

One. My wife, youngest son and I were sitting in the church balcony on Sunday and our Pastor was teaching out of James 3:13-14 which reads "Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." And our Pastor continued with a teaching around the audacity of control. As he was closing out his sermon, the videographer sitting next to us, passes out. Practically in my wife's lap. She was fine, but given the sermon topic, it added a bit of punctuation to our true control in life.

Two. My wife and I were having a conversation with our babysitter. A young lady going into her senior year of high school. She was sharing how she see's herself a little different than her peers. The things she likes differ from the crowd. I shared a conversation that my wife and I had about how all too often we try to determine things for our children. And that "who are we to determine such outcomes for the wonderful individuals that God has made."

I believe we get so focused on what we think we need to be and do. And that focus so easily gets placed on others—our kids, our neighbors, our spouses, our bosses, our community, our government—what we believe they need to be and do.

Seth Godin recently had a blog posting the other day which kind of gives a different take to this topic which I believe is quite relevant when it comes to control, or determining outcomes. There is a bit of a "hippie" nature to living out of control. And I know those folks smoked a lot of pot.

James 4 continues in verse 17 "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins."

Do we know the good we ought to do? Then let's do that. And live more out of control.