It seems, should we regard the opinions of man (at some point in their lifetime), that “The Man” has been “getting us down” long before the rise of corporate America. Since the dawn of mankind, there has always been someone to push humans from one place to another they do not desire to be. The very first "Man" was in fact God.
When mankind was placed on the earth, Adam and Eve were given free reign over the entire planet, including all the animals, plants, and lands. The only thing they were denied was the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. We all know the ending of this particular story, though. Almost everything was not enough for them. Having control over that minuscule portion of their life was too much to bear. And so they sought for control over every inch of their life--losing control of everything in this one act of attempted independence.
As Christians today, we are asked to willingly surrender control of our lives to God--something that goes against our very nature. Man likes to be in charge of his own destiny. Why else would there be such a high amount of debate concerning "free will" or "free choice" of man amongst religious circles? I know personally that I like to have control over things. In some situations I may opt to do something entirely myself to ensure it gets done the way I want it to be done. I think the best illustration for this blog comes from camp last year.
I was working with some friends at a camp as the worship band for the week. It is a great job that has us playing music and hanging out with the kids. This particular year, I got "encouraged" into going off of a thing they call the "big swing." Basically, it has you suspended by two wires connected to two tall poles and the person is hoisted up and dropped to swing back and forth until gravity wins out against momentum. The pertinent part of this story, however, was when I found myself suspended in the air (at this point only a couple feet high) without any power over where I wanted to be. I squirmed around in an attempt to get where I wanted to be. I looked helplessly at the ground--a forgotten friend that once allowed me to exert my own will over my position. My panic only rose as the ground became a more distant sight. Suddenly the thirty feet between me and my own will seemed to be a gaping chasm. When it all was over I found assuredness and confidence in standing on two feet.
The purpose of this story is that I couldn't bear the idea of not having control over something as little as my own motion. How much more am I resistant to the idea of surrendering my life to God? We in America pride ourselves at having the ability to do anything and be anything we want to be, but that's not what being a follower of Christ is about. Maybe I want to be a rock star, but God has called me into the ministry of a small-town church. If I am what I profess to be, then I will go where God has called me.
So the purpose of this blog is to make you ask this: Who is in control in my life? Am I rebelling against God to wrest control of my life? I pray that we all might dangle comfortably in the hands of God, prepared to do what He asks of us.
