When Life’s Out of Our Control — The Little “c” & the big “C”
May 15th, 2008 Posted in Spirituality
Do you ever feel your life is in some measure out of your control? Join the club! “Due to circumstances beyond our control…” is the proverbial announcement warning that we better brace ourselves for things not going the way we expected them to go. Even those who don’t consider themselves a “control freak” get frustrated that so often things don’t go as planned.
I find that it helps to remember the reality of what I would like to call the little “c” and the big “C” when life spins out of our control or, less drastically, when events only work out partially the way we want.
The little “c” stands for circumstances. The reality is - we don’t control many of the circumstances around us. Life happens.
Then there’s the big “C” which represents Christ. We also don’t control Christ. In fact, He’s supposed to control us! We are to follow Him, He doesn’t follow us. The good news is that the little “c” is ultimately under the control of the big “C” and this is what can give us great comfort and the courage to keep on keeping on.
I want to model the apostle Paul who wrote, “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation.” (Philippians 4:11) I too want to learn this secret! In another of his letters Paul wrote, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Note that I highlighted and underlined both the little “c” and the big “C” in Paul’s statement.
When we yield leadership of life to Christ we don’t have to insist on having control over all our circumstances because He does! As long as He’s in charge things will eventually work out.
Dave
