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Note: This post is part of the Two Weeks of Waiting Devotional. To return to the table of contents for the devotional, click here. To read this as a downloadable ebook, subscribe below.
This phrase always makes me laugh. As if we have to “give” God the control over our lives! Newsflash: He has control over your life whether you give it to him or not.
More accurately, we need to realize that we don’t have control over our lives. And accept it.
But therein lies the problem. We’ve been told all of our lives about the American dream: If you work hard enough, you can do it. If you want to achieve your dreams, never give up. Don’t give control of your life to anyone else — let alone God. You can accomplish anything if you just try hard enough and persevere.
A lot of us don’t realize that it’s not true until we’re in a period of waiting. And if you’re like me, infertility was the first time you really realized you can’t always work hard enough to get something you want. Even if you “work hard” and do all of the research and see all of the doctors and take all of the supplements and try all of the treatments, you still might end up not pregnant. You only have control over so much.
And so we’re left waiting. Maybe this isn’t God’s timing, or maybe it’s not even God’s plan. So how do we accept it – that God’s plan is different from our own?
We ask God to help us, and we listen to His word. We study the Bible, and take note that it’s full of characters whose lives didn’t turn out as they planned—and yet because we have the entire Bible in front of us, we can see how God wove all of the stories together for good. We listen to other people’s stories around us, too, and we come away from them realizing that God’s plan is better than our own, anyway.
Further study + reflection
Take the next few days to read the story of Joseph in Genesis 37-50. (Even if you think you already know the story by heart, re-read it.) What do you think was the plan Joseph envisioned for his life when he was young? How did it turn out differently? What does this say about God and His plans for our lives?
Note: This post is part of the Two Weeks of Waiting Devotional. To return to the table of contents for the devotional, click here. To read this as a downloadable ebook, subscribe below.
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