If you've not caught this from reading, I'm a bit of a control freak. It kicked in after my parents divorced and has been in overdrive, in various forms, ever since. That's 25 years of me being a little uptight and anal. So when this event really kicked into high gear I've been quite vocal about making sure my exact vision is executed - on things as big as fundraising and as small as font in a program. Mind you, I have some rock stars on my committee who are very capable yet I go stepping on toes and sticking fingers in pie.
I had gotten particularly worked up Tuesday during a site visit when there was an issue with the venue contract. From the site I went to a live Beth Moore bible study. It's been great, and I always come away with a fresh perspective. Well, this week was no different (although the bolt God hit me with technically had nothing to do with her message, funny how that works).
This is what I came away with: God has this event under His control because whatever comes from it will go to save women and children who are being battered. See, while an industry group is hosting the event, all the proceeds are going to Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse. This organization rescues battered families. Last year alone they helped over 1500 families. Their funding continues to be cut and our group is coming in to help raise funds for them.
This is what came to me: Colossians 3:17, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
You know what's been missing from all of this freakish planning? God. The organization putting on the event is not religions, it is industry specific, but that doesn't mean that God can't be in the middle of it using His people to be His hands and His feet. Of course, I still have to work to make sure things are done, but I don't need to wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night. He will bless this. Don't I know that, "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Rom. 8:28)
If you're in the middle of clinging, clutching, controlling something today - your work, your kids, your schedule, your husband, your project, your body, your closet - then it might be good to take a step back. If you're doing a God thing, He will bless it. If you're not doing a God thing, maybe you shouldn't be doing it. (And by you I mean ME!)
I remember being caught in the middle of a major tornado in downtown Fort Worth and pulling into a parking garage right before it hit the attached building. On the radio, Twila Paris was singing God Is In Control. Sometimes, when everything else in our life seems to be spinning out of control, we clutch, white-knuckled, on to something that we have control over. I felt that way during that tornado. I feel like that again. But it doesn't do any good and it only serves to give us ulcers and insomnia. Listen to this song on a loop in your head if you’re over-controlling somethng today, and then hand the reins over to God (He’ll do a better job anyways):
This is no time for fear
This is the time for faith and determination
Don't lose the vision here carried away by the motion
Hold on to all that you hide in your heart
There is one thing that has always been true
It holds the world together
God is in control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him, we know
Oh, God is in control, oh God is in control
Oh, God is in control, oh God is in control
He has never let you down
Why start to worry now?
Why start to worry now?
He is still the Lord of all we see
And He is still the loving Father
Watching over you and me
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