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Christian Network

The term "control freak" entered our contemporary vocabulary at some point during the late Twentieth Century. It describes an individual who has a deep compulsion to micromanage all aspects of life, to be in command of every situation at every moment in every way possible. Often this desire for control extends beyond the person’s own life into the lives of others. Controlling parents, spouses, bosses, etc. are rife in our society today.

While it is true that such choleric souls have existed throughout the world and throughout human history there seem to be more than ever these days, especially in the West. This should not be much of a surprise; our culture breeds control freaks.

At no other time has there existed a civilization like ours. We live in an age of technological mastery, a period which has seen us not only tame elemental powers that for thousands of years were untamable but actually harness them for our use. We have electricity, automobiles, computers, telecommunications, jet aircraft. We have even learned to release the enormous energy of the atom. In short the human race, or at least the portion of it that lives in affluence, has attained to a place of power beyond the wildest dreams of the Ancient World. In countless ways we appear to be masters over our destiny. This is, of course, an illusion. As Christians we know, or we at least are supposed to know, that only God has complete control over all things.

However, the reality is that many believers are just as prone to a controlling spirit as the average "pagan". We, too, are so insulated from the basic survival needs that drove our race for most of its existence that we have often forgotten that we are mortal. We have also failed to remember that we live at God’s pleasure, not our own. The greatest among us is still always just one breath away from death. The length of our days remains the one thing that we can never have control over, no matter how much personal power we think we have.

It is wise to remember the fragility of our existence because, apart from the issue of overweening pride, the bottom line is that trying to control every aspect of our lives, or the lives of others, is truly "a chasing after the wind". The person who is always attempting to have power they cannot or should not have will reap only frustration and ultimately lose the life they were unwilling to abandon, in faith, to God’s care.

Despite the chimera of human sovereignty true security and contentment comes only with the surrender of personal power to the One who has the right to control all, the One who does all things well.