We all know that infamous line from one of the greatest shows of all time (personal opinion) "Parks and Recreation" where Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope head on over to a diner to eat some food. Ron orders by saying "Just give me all the bacon and eggs you have. Wait, wait. I'm worried what you just heard was, "Give me a lot of bacon and eggs." What I said was, "Give me all the bacon and eggs you have". Do you understand?"
You may be asking:
Why does this matter?
Who watches that show anyways? (A lot of people okay)
Why are you talking about "Parks and Recreation" when your title is about control?
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I'm first going to respond by saying that these are all really great questions and you all have a great point. Why? Why does Ron Swanson ask for something so big, out of his reach, and expect it immediately? Next, why does he demand it? What gives him the right to demand something of this size. Literally ALL of the bacon and eggs. That is a lot. Now lets put it into a much bigger perspective. In life we want a lot of things: Justin Bieber concert tickets, sleep, ice cream, a puppy, and more time with people we love. Lets put this into a bigger perspective. We can say that to accomplish getting all of those things we would need two things: strength and control. Do we perhaps as Christians and people in general view God the same way as Ron Swanson viewed the diner? This is just a question. I am not pointing fingers. Well actually I am, at myself, because this is a place where I can be vulnerable with people I have never met before and I think this is good. I struggle with demanding things from God that aren't mine and will never be mine to have. Two of them being control and strength. I want these things for myself because I believe that I am a strong and independent woman who can do all things because I am a strong independent woman. Seriously, wow how wrong am I, and in what place am I to take those things away from the Creator who so graciously sacrificed himself so that I could sit here and dwell on it.
Psalm 23:1-3 "The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need. He lets me rest in fields of green grass and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water. He gives me new strength. He guides me in the right paths, as he has promised."
Psalm 46:1 "God is our shelter and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble."
And we can't forget the famous football verse...
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
If you ask Him for the control in your life, He will not willingly give it to you, because it is not yours to have. And AMEN to that because if I had control over my life it would be in shambles as we speak. There is no sharing of control. There isn't a second steering wheel in the car of your life. Jesus has volunteered to be the taxi driver of your life EXCEPT you have no say in where you are going. You get to ride in the backseat and enjoy the view. When looking at it that way, aren't you thankful? Aren't you glad you can't do everything on your own?
When life gets hard, is God having control a good thing?
I think in the midst of trouble and hardship it can be so hard to see that God having the ultimate control is good. We ask ourselves "why?" instead of "thank you." You may ask, why on earth would I say thank you when something bad happens to me, do you know what I've been through? Well, no, but knowing that God is just, He is perfect, and His mercies are for us allow us to see that there is a purpose. He will never let anything go unfinished, and since He is perfect, his perfection carries through to His control in our lives.
So whenever life gets hard you just have to lean forward, ask God to turn down the radio, and just talk things through because he already knows every step, breath, jump, and fall you will have before you ever have it.
