Out of Control

What were pagan religions all about? What was the point, the purpose behind all of the sacrifices and prayers? Why was magic such a big part of Egyptian religion?

It was all about control. People brought sacrifices to different gods in order to get something from them. The sacrifice was like a bribe to get the god to send rain or warm weather, to help the fields grow or to bring in a good harvest. In a harsh and unpredictable world, religion offered a way to try to affect the future.

Religion isn’t just about explaining how the world exists and our purpose in it, it is about controlling your fate. At least, most religions are.

God sent Jesus with a different message. “Do not worry about what you will eat or what you will wear. The Gentiles strive after these things.” God knows what we need, and he is in control.

We don’t need to offer sacrifices to bring the rain, we don’t need to chant magical prayers to bring healing. We only need to trust Him. Our sacrifices are not sacrifices that attempt to control God or bribe him into doing what we want. Our sacrifices are marks of thanks for what God has done, and what he will do.

How often do we treat prayer and God just the opposite? We ask for what we want, not for his will to be done. We strive for what we need, and do God’s work in our free time. We have turned things around, and are back exactly where we started. This is not how God wants us to live, trying to control our lives.

Other religions are about control, about getting what you need and satisfying yourself. Our life with God should not be like that; we must deny self. We must banish the fiction that we can control anything. We never have been able to, and we never will. It is when our lives are completely and totally out of control that we can fully live for God.

My aunt has a sign on her fridge, one that I will never forget. “Good Morning. This is GOD. I will be handing ALL of your problems today. You don’t need to do a THING. So have a nice day.”

You can’t control anything except yourself; how you live, how you act, your relationship with God. Worry about where you stand with Him and what He wants you to do. Food, clothes, money, all of that will sort itself out. If you try to change it, you’ll just frustrate yourself.

So be out of control. It’s okay. That’s God’s job. Yours is a lot simpler. Just do as your told. Seek the lord with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, and he will make your paths straight.