Shattering The Illusion

Yesterday I made the statement that in the big scheme of things, we don't really have control; we merely have the illusion of control. And every once in awhile an event or series of events comes along & shatters that illusion. The unfortunate thing about this idea is that it's not intuitive. I don't know about you, but I don't wake up & think about the fact that I'm not in control. In fact the opposite is true. We tend to focus on the handful of things that we do have some control over, & we overestimate our control at that. In addition to that, we scramble to acquire more control over more & more of our lives. Then it happens. That event comes along & slaps us in the face & shatters the illusion we've worked so hard to maintain. The scary thing is that most of us have to experience the shattering of our illusion.

It says in James chapter 4, "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." And is there anything more proud than for us to think that we really have total control? Like I said last week, "Spiritual maturity does not equal self-sufficiency." As we grow in our faith we actual should recognize our lack of control & our dependency on God. When we begin to think more highly of ourselves than we should, we are putting ourselves at odds with God. It shouldn't surprise us that just around the corner lurks something that reminds us of just how little control we really do have. So the first thing we need to do is to remind ourselves everyday of our dependency on God. Again, this is not intuitive; we have to be intentional about building this into our lives & the way we see the world. If you go read the model prayer given by Jesus in Luke 11, you'll see that Jesus intends for us to be reminded daily of our desperate need for God, even for something as basic as our food. If Jesus wants us to be that aware of our need for God's provision, maybe we should take note.