Stop Telling God What to Do!

I have found that I have a problem. I don't know who is in control of my life. I would like to think that I am in control but the truth is I have surrendered my life to the Lord Jesus and therefore have surrendered control to Him. Still, I find myself fighting for control. Still I find myself trying to direct my own destiny. I find myself falling victim to the delusion that I am the master of my own fate. I don't believe I alone carry this attitude. I think there are a lot of believers who are the same way. We all struggle for control never taking the time to realize we do not control anything in this world accept ourselves. We cannot control what happens to us. We do not control our circumstances. All we can do with our free will is control how we respond and react to our circumstances. All of life is determined by God not us. Which means we do not control our fate. Which means we do not control our destiny. Too many people imagine they are the masters of their fate and by their own devices they have engineered their lives to be blessed. Some rich people believe they have created their riches never once giving God the glory for His blessings. These people believe they have created their own blessings because they do not know, or do not care that the Bible says it is God's will that moves us along in life, and all good things come from God above. “Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:16-17 KJV. “Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boasting: all such rejoicing is evil.” James 4:13-16 KJV. The attitude I constantly struggle with is not failing to recognize God's good hand upon me, or failing to be grateful, but in seeking God's will for my life I am constantly trying to tell Him how He ought to direct my life and fix my circumstances. In whatever way God moves me I find myself assessing the situation and then advising God in what direction to take; as if my advice would mean anything to an omniscient God. In doing this I often find I am substituting what I feel are good things for what is best. What I mean is, we may have good ideas born from good intentions but God's way is always the best way. When we try to move God to fulfill our plans in our way we are moving away from the perfect will of God into the lessor imagination of man. How could any plan or imagination of man compare to the perfect will of God? And yet, I find myself arguing with God again and again over His direction for my life. Abraham and Sarah provide us a good example of getting ahead of God and trying to fulfill God's promises through human ingenuity. “Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.” Genesis 16:1-2 KJV. God's promise to Abraham was that he would have an heir but the older Abraham and Sarah got the less they believed the promise. Sarah then determined that it was up to her to fulfill God's promise and she tried to do so through human means. Sarah even acted in a way which was condoned by her culture. Since she was apparently barren she offered her servant girl to be a surrogate. Sarah tried to fulfill God's word but in so doing she and Abraham moved away from God's will. Sarah substituted what she considered a good plan for the perfect will of God. Speaking to Abraham and Sarah's actions Oswald Chambers (1934) writes, “When we go off on that line we become devoted to our interpretation of our destiny.” Which means we decide we know best how to direct our lives even when we have a word from God. Chambers continues, “Destiny is never abstract. The destiny of a human being is vested in a personal relationship to God. . . Fanaticism is sticking true to my interpretation of my destiny instead of waiting on God to make it clear. The fanatical line is -Do something; the test of faith lies not in doing.” The test of faith is in waiting on God to do what He has promised. We must be careful to never dictate to God how He must do things. When God has given us His word and made us a promise then it is entirely up to Him to fulfill His word and promise. When we pray in an advisory capacity we are assuming God needs our advice and direction, which is insulting on its face. God has never needed anyone's advice. How could He? He is God! The only way to keep from overstepping our boundaries with God is to trust that God will do what He has promised in His time and in His way and in so doing to pray, “Lord I believe You will do all that You have promised,” leaving it at that. The only way to exercise a faith which allows for God to move us into His perfect and pleasing will is to wait on God to move, which means not getting anxious and making a move all on our own. Because, it is usually when we move out on our own that we cause many of the difficult circumstances we live with. The End.