Let Go of Control: Trust God’s Timing and Plan

Are We There Yet?

When it comes to trusting God, many of us would like to control the details of the narrative like an author does a story. Due to our excitement and rambunctiousness about what we expect God to do, many of us are reminiscent of children in the backseat of a car awaiting arrival at a theme park who constantly ask, “Are we there yet?”

However, that isn’t faith because this isn’t fiction. Our lives are real and not subject to the whims or capricious attitude of a writer manipulating a storyline or plot arc. As believers, we must trust. Trust could be defined as “believing in the honesty or reliability of a person, or confidence in their plan.” There’s no way around it, child of God; we must exhibit faith and trust in God as we await the fulfillment of His promises or plan for our lives. In some aspects, exercising faith in God means relinquishing control of our expectations. In other words, we are not wrong to have expectations of “what” God will do; however, we mustn’t equivocate confidence with controlling the “when” or the “how.”

A Reasonable Expectation

The word of God, particularly His promises, gives us a reasonable expectation in believing God to do what He said He would do. The Scriptures are clear that should anyone observe our hope, that is, our behavior of anticipation from God of future performance, and ask us the reason for this hopeful anticipation, we should be able to provide an answer or defense of our expectation (1 Peter 3:15). Therefore, it presumes that we should possess an expectation and be able to respond to our hope. God would encourage the nation of Israel not to cast aside their hopes for the future in light of their present conditions. He tells them through the prophet Jeremiah, “I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.”

The Lord announces to Israel that He has the best intentions for them so that they may expect something better. I believe the Lord still has great plans for the lives of His people, and we would do well to believe in those plans that are contrary to the present circumstances we’re facing. Israel, at this time, was facing a traumatic juncture as captives to the nation of Babylon under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar. Their hopes are seemingly dashed because it doesn’t appear that their captivity will end soon. Yet God assures them that He has better for them, that their circumstances will change, and this good news should inspire hope and expectation.

Child of God, the Lord wants you to expect and not walk around crushed in spirit and countenance celebrating a perpetual pity party. Regardless of whatever is occurring in your life that’s causing either trauma or travail, God is thinking about you. Because of His benevolent nature, this should encourage you out of despair. David at one time declared that the Lord was the “lifter of his head,” and I presume to believe the cause of this was the fact he uttered in Psalm 139:17, “How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”

Nurture Your Expectation

After moving from the reasonable grounds we have as believers to expect things from God, we now must consider how we nurture or carry this expectation. As previously stated, trusting in God is one thing, but having the giddiness of a child, jumping at every shadow of possible fulfillment, develops weariness in the believer that could open the door to doubt and anxiety. Many of us have suffered the disappointment of being overly anxious, even to the point of questioning the character of God. We must understand that this is where the tempter would have us dwell, in a perpetual inquisition of the Lord’s character and intention, dismantling our trust.

Instead of trusting God in simple faith, he’d have us place God on the witness stand and interrogate Him! And if we’re being honest, like David in Psalm 6:3, we’ve either wondered or uttered the phrase, “Lord, how long?” And though this is a natural tendency of human expression when an expectation is drawn out beyond our comprehension, we must refrain from dictating to God when His good will must occur. We must leave our conditions, trials, adversities, and cares in the capable hands of God and trust Him to know the right time to alleviate, heal, secure, and comfort. In humble submission to the will and plan of God, we can move from asking God, “How long?” to speaking with the words of trust and confidence, “My times are in thy hands.” Psalm 31:15.

Confidence is Submission!

What a thought, indeed! So often, we view confidence as this macho display of assurance derived from facing hopeless situations. However, as it pertains to God, real confidence is submission, often defined as the condition of submitting control to someone or something else. Frequently, we hear the phrase from pulpits that we ought to “submit to the will of God.” This is true, yet many struggle to submit to His how. His will is fine; what troubles us is how He plans to bring His will to pass in our lives.

No one could’ve prepared Abraham that the way God desired to see the validity of his faith would be to sacrifice his son Isaac. Why, if the Lord had met with Abraham in private and discussed these details, Abraham, more than likely, wouldn’t have agreed. Who could’ve told Job that his integrity was on display in this sort of cosmic clash between God and Satan, and this is why he underwent the intense suffering he endured? What sage advice did David receive after being anointed king by the prophet that could’ve prepared him for a contest against a giant and that this was his path to kingship?

Submit in Confidence

This is why we must submit in confidence to God because the will and the way belong to Him. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” Isaiah 55:8 Nevertheless, if God knows His will and plan for my life, He’s also aware of the way He would have me go and won’t abandon me in the process. Nehemiah 9:19 says, “You did not abandon them in the wilderness because of Your great compassion. During the day the pillar of cloud never turned away from them, guiding them on their journey. And during the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.”

Therefore, we should be encouraged as believers to grow in our faith. And this is not in our ability to believe, which is to say, not in how much we believe, but in how we believe. When the disciples asked Jesus, in Luke 17:5, to increase their faith, the Lord did not reply with an answer of how much faith they should have, but the nature of it. Their faith was to be likened to a mustard seed, though not in proportion to quantity but to quality. Jesus wanted them fixed on the fact that if they possessed even the smallest amount of robust, mature faith, that type of faith could move sycamine trees and mountains. Why? because the nature of their faith in God would be such that He would be compelled to move for them, even if it took moving miraculously.

Let go, and Let God!

Child of God, it’s not about how much faith we have but its maturity that’s able to weather the storm of waiting when we don’t know when or enduring when we don’t know how. As the disciples did, we can ask God to increase or mature our faith, and He will do so because it is impossible to please Him without it. Let us never approach God with the scrutiny of his plans but with confidence in them through faith. Mature faith will endure the exhaustion of waiting for the arrival of the promise while also enduring the excitement of expectation without attempting to control the details. I encourage you, as I’ve heard the seasoned church mothers say, “Let go, and let God have His way!”

Unfortunately, some are convinced that the more they can control, the more confidence they have. Supposedly, they believe that controlling the variables of their lives or the aspects concerning their goals will give them confidence in the desired outcome. However, this is a dream and a false hope. What can we really control? Even with all our plans, preparations, and programs, something usually comes up that we either forgot or didn’t think to make provisions for. Such is the way of life, which is why we must trust God, who is adequately placed to watch over the affairs of our lives.