Believing God Is in Control and You Are Not

“Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20).

ONE OF THE HARDEST LESSONS for a leader to learn is to give up control and become a steward of the process. What does this mean? Let go and let God? Be passive? NEVER! It means that we seek God first and we listen for His guidance. It means that we become neutral as to the outcome. We say to the Lord, “I am willing to go to the left or to the right, if you will make it clear.” Our natural inclination is to let our flesh patterns direct us to make things happen on our timetable and in our way. We want to achieve something great.

The more we seek to control our worlds by our own efforts, the more we try to manipulate a particular outcome. By trying to hold on to this world and the things of it, we will resist the Lord and His ways. We will attempt to redefine the rules or sell our opinions in order to achieve our desires. Yet God is opposed to the proud and will give grace to the humble.

Giving up control is expressed when we seek and submit to the Lord’s will and His way. But that does not mean we remain passive and do nothing. We are to be stewards of the process. The process is to listen to God, be obedient, work with excellence, and value people in our decisions.

“I believe the number one ‘skill,’ if you can call it that, is the skill to be open to the voice of God. I think it is a lost skill for leaders today. In fact, the longer I lead and the longer I am on this leadership journey, the more convinced I am that the majority of my leadership is not driven by my character, skill, or strategic thinking. It has far more to do with my skill, my ability—and willingness—to be open to the “still, small voice” of the Lord. Actually, this voice is not small at all, but powerful—more powerful than the other skills.

“We must never lose the skill of listening to the voice of God. This skill develops over time and with much practice. When we do not listen to the voice of God in our lives as leaders, the results can be devastating. Often it takes weeks, even years to recover from the mess created or the opportunities missed by not listening and acting on that still, small voice of our Lord in us. Sometimes, we never recover.” — Tom Atema, vice president of EQUIP

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Purchase the Entire Devotional – “Experiencing Christ as Life and Leader” 

The devotion above was taken from the 52-week Devotional entitled “Experiencing Christ as Life and Leader”.

Many give a mental assent to this teaching yet are often asking, “What do I do? What does Christ as life look like?“ Too often Christians err by moving too far to one side or the other—reducing the Christian life to a list of do’s and don’ts, or they actually do nothing.

These inspiring weekly devotions are just some of the actions that reflect the life of Christ in each of us, and they explore four areas as we follow the One Leader, Jesus Christ –

• A Foundational Focus
• A Personal Focus
• A Relational Focus
• A Missional Focus

Be challenged, encouraged, and spurred on to a deeper walk with Christ.

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