We Want to Be in Control
As people, we like being in control. Taking control isn’t necessarily a bad thing unless we take it too far. Often, we think we know what’s best and how things should be done. We like having a plan. We want to know the outcome.
Before GPS, we had to read a map to get where we wanted to go. Now, we just plug in an address, and the GPS maps it out for us. If the GPS says, “This is the route,” that’s the route we take, even though we’ve all experienced, or at least heard stories about, it leading someone the wrong way. Still, the next time we get in the car, we put in the address and fully trust the GPS all over again.
It’s interesting how willing we are to give GPS control of our trips, but unwilling to give God that same kind of control over our lives.
Maybe we should use a different kind of GPS—A God Positioning System.
As we continue through the Lord’s Prayer, this week’s focus is: Your kingdom come, Your will be done.
So, what does God’s kingdom look like?
In Mark 4, Jesus teaches a large crowd using a parable about a farmer sowing seed:
“As he was sowing, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it. Some fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun rose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the seedlings, and they yielded no crop. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it sprouted, grew up, and produced a crop — one bearing thirtyfold, another sixtyfold, and another a hundredfold.” (Verses 4-8)
Then, in Verses 14-20, He explains the parable to His disciples:
“The farmer sows the word. Some are like the seeds along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Some are like the seeds sown on rocky ground. They hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But they themselves have no root, and they remain for only a season. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Others are like the seeds sown among the thorns. They hear the word, but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. Still others are like the seeds sown on good soil. They hear the word, receive it, and produce a crop — thirtyfold, sixtyfold, or a hundredfold.”
He goes on in Verses 26-29:
“The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed on the ground. Night and day he sleeps and wakes, and the seed sprouts and grows, though he knows not how. All by itself the earth produces a crop— first the stalk, then the head, then grain that ripens within.”
Your kingdom come. Your will be done.
We need to align our actions with God’s plan. In Matthew 26:36-46, we see a powerful example of how we do this. Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying about His upcoming crucifixion.
“My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” (Verse 39)
Then again in Verse 42, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, may Your will be done.”
Most of the time when we pray, we’re asking God to do something for us—help us with this problem or that one, help us get this job, help us accomplish this goal. It often comes back to thinking we have the best plan and wanting to stay in control.
But prayer isn’t about getting control … it’s about giving it up.
We need to trust that God knows what’s best. We need to let go and let God.
