On Change – Control

Greetings Dear Reader,

When change occurs without our wanting it we seek to control it.  We seek to stop it, attenuate it, or manipulate it.  Change reminds us how little we control things.  Change is an emotionless force that can rip us apart if we try to control it.

Natural disasters invade lives and force change.  Homes and lives are ripped apart.  Whole communities can be destroyed.  The world responds to these with aid, comfort, and restoration.

Individual change unwanted and unwelcome can be the most dangerous.  The mind seeks to find a way to prevent it or deny.  Situations we do not control and cannot prevent rip into our lives and the whim or will of another.  A slight discomfort turns into the need for a biopsy.  A spouse decides he or she wants something more than the vows they swore before God and witnesses.  You become redundant at a job you love.  Someone dies suddenly.

Change rips into your life and you have to make choices amid the pain and terror.  You have to choose your responses.  If we try to control the change we usually respond in bad ways.  As a Christ follower we must accept change and do whatever it takes to do what is right.  We do not have to be silent about the wrong in it but every word and action must be loving and kind.

We can feel the anger, pain, betrayal and loss.  We should feel them.  We should also never take them out on anyone else.  We should only be motivated by our determination to do whatever it takes to seek Christ in the change. 

If I believe that God is in control of everything then no change comes into my life without his allowing it.  Whether I like it or not my only hope is to seek Christ in the moment.  My only way out is through.  The only thing I can truly control is my response.  The only power I have is to do what is right no matter what the cost. 

Christ promises to give us the will and power to let go of control if we will do so.  He promises that we are never alone.  In every moment, even the darkest ones, he promises to be there if we will simply seek him.    

The Sunrise of Your Smile – Michael Card

Reject the worldly lie that says

That life lies always up ahead

Let power go before control becomes

A crust around your soul

Escape the hunger to possess

And soul-diminishing success

This world is full of narrow lives

I pray by grace your smile survives

For I would wander weary miles

Would welcome ridicule, my child

To simply see the sunrise of your smile

To see the light behind your eyes

The happy thought that makes you fly

Yes, I would wander weary miles

To simply see the sunrise of your smile

Now close your eyes so you can see

Your own unfinished memories

Now open them for time is brief

And you'll be blest beyond belief

Now glance above you at the sky

There's beauty there to blind the eye

I ask all this then wait awhile

To see the dawning of your smile

For I would wander weary miles

Would welcome ridicule, my child

To simply see the sunrise of your smile

To see the light behind your eyes

The happy thought that makes you fly

Yes, I would wander weary miles

To simply see the sunrise of your smile

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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