Surrendering Control: The Active Posture of Peace 

Why are you trying to control everything? So much of our anxiety and stress is rooted in this. Is it not trying to control everything? You know, I've been here in Israel for eight months, living with my family. And I've been confronted with this reality that I really don't have any control. And that's a good place to be. As I listen to this song over the last couple of weeks with my family, and as I steal myself away and come to the Judean desert to get a break from the noise and the chaos, and just to find that still small voice of the Lord. These verses from Psalm 46, verses ten through 11, our washing over my heart, over my soul. Cease striving and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. 

You know, as I've been learning Hebrew, that word or that command to be still, the word is horrible. And it's interesting that that word, it's not just a passive meditation, it's not a passive prayer. It's an active posture. Think about a warrior holding a sword, a spear, and a shield, ready for battle, and throwing down his weapons of warfare. It's an active posture. What is he doing? He's surrendering. He's ceasing to fight. That's the picture. That's the hard posture that God wants for you and for me in the middle of the chaos. Whatever you're facing, whatever fight you are in, find yourself in whatever problem that is overwhelming you. You and I must come to this place where we recognize that we need to throw down our control, our weapons of war, and know that God, God of the angel armies, is with us. He is our fortress. 

I want to encourage you. Find those moments where you can tell your soul. God of angel armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. You don't have to control things. You don't have to do it in your own strength. God is telling you to let go because it's in the process, right? It's in the waiting for that answer. It's in the struggle. It's when we are waiting for God to reveal his goodness in the thing we're praying for. But he's saying, no, no, no, I am good during the waiting. I am still the God of angel armies while you wait. I am still in control even when you don't see it. I am with you. I am for you. Let go. 

What did Jacob do with the angel of the Lord? He wrestled with the angel. And it took God Himself to reach down and touch Jacob's hip and overcome him, overpower him, so that he would understand that he is not in control. God is. And when you encounter that grace, that overwhelming mercy of God that says, I am your refuge, let go, then it doesn't matter what's around you, the chaos, the noise, the stress. You can relax and trust that he is with you.