And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 8 Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Stand firm against him and be strong in your faith. - 1 Peter 5:5b, 7-9a NLT.
“Do you want to go boating?” Our family of six headed to a beach. I waded into the water.
“Just roll in.” Four oars, and not one of them was mine. In this boat, I had no say.
“Let’s not go far,”
“We aren’t.”
“The current is too strong here.”
“No, it isn’t.”
“Let’s go back.”
“No, we just got out. Relax.”
“I’m having trouble not being the captain.” My son grinned. I felt like a child with no arms.
Finally, I chose to let go of control, to trust God to take care of us, and to get us back to shore.
The next day, I took the boat out alone. I struggled to manoeuvre it to go anywhere other than around in circles.
I realized I had been exhibiting pride. The devil disrupted what should have been a happy family time on the water by giving me feelings of fear and a desire to be in control. He knows my weaknesses. I thank God that the Holy Spirit gave me the ability to relax, to give up my worries to Him and to realize how that desire for control is a manifestation of pride. I can trust wise and mighty Jesus Christ to be my Captain and so can you.
We need to humble ourselves because we are not God, and confess our tendency to take control. We also need to realize that we have an adversary, and we need to stand firm against him.
Lord, please forgive me for the times I want my own way and even fight to get it. Please help me to submit myself to you and lay down my own desires. I choose to trust you to get me safely to where you want me to be.
Throughout this day: Watch and learn this song from Project of Love based on 1 Peter 5.
Fighting for Captain's Control