Let's Lose Control

I'm tired of society being so contradictory. I see the extreme New York abortion laws, states battling for varying levels of legality for killing unborn children, and other arguments on social media and in my workplace to elevate women's "rights" above all else. Yet on Pinterest last week, I saw a pin for "What to Eat to Get Pregnant."

I was struck by the extremes in our world today: if I'd rather not bear a child, I can get an abortion; if I desire a child, I can read "How to get pregnant fast." If a child would be an inconvenience, I can get an abortion; if I desire a child, I can use artificial methods to get pregnant. This contradiction is so obvious, yet few seem to recognize it.

It screams one main word to me: CONTROL. We are like spoiled children who get upset when we don't get what we want. Maybe I sound harsh, but I don't think I'm wrong when I say that we (humans in general) want to control everything. This is evident in many ways in our society, but controlling life is control to the extreme.

As Christians, we are called to the opposite of control – hand everything over to God.

Everything? EVERYTHING!

We believe, and therefore must act accordingly, that we are our truest selves when we are as much like Christ as possible and act according to His will instead of our own. This is countercultural today when control and independence are emphasized. Let us open our arms and hearts wide and allow Christ to consume us, as He desires to. Let Him guide us to lasting holiness, happiness and peace.

Letting go and trusting fully in the Lord is difficult! It is for me, anyway. I sometimes allow worry, frustration and my own will get in the way of total trust. Society and its "standards" can easily sweep us away unless we are grounded in our spiritual lives.

Lent is a great time to "come back to the Lord" (does that sound familiar?), evaluate where we're at, observe how we are trusting God and ask Him to help us grow ever closer to him. Let's fix our eyes on Jesus and lose control.