How to Find Your Control in an Out of Control World

Are we living in the last days? I mean, there are earthquakes. Wars and war rumors. Signs in the heavens. Natural disasters on a wide scale. Technology that makes it easy to see how massive amounts of people could be manipulated into taking a mark. Whether the end is near or not, I think we all can agree that this world isn’t becoming more stable. It often feels like it’s out of control.

We are living in a time when we can no longer shut our eyes and pretend that everything is fine. We are all affected and invaded by the mounting lawlessness. Yet we are not left helpless. Those of us who know and love the One who is in control have everything we need to continue to live in confidence. We can’t let the enemy compound his chaos by deceiving us out of our God-given agency.

It’s normal to feel fear in times like these. If we don’t feel it then we probably aren’t being realistic. The real threats to our safety and dignity…to those we love…are increasing. But we don’t have to live in fear. We can look it in the face and remind ourselves that we have what we need in this season. We can orient back to the things God has given us responsibility over.

Here’s how we do that:

1. We consistently shift our focus back to God and eternity. If we have accepted Jesus’ sacrifice, we are God’s children and He takes full responsibility for us. We have eternal life and the evil one can’t touch that. Anything and everything we face on this earth is temporary. We will never die. We are always safe.

2. We give ourselves grace and make sure we are filling our lives with the resources God has given us…even more when life is hard and fear is insistent. Know your resources and make sure they are a part of your day. Encourage people around you to use them. Focus on the things that you do have power over.

3. We must continue to overcome evil. We do this with good. Your good doesn’t have to be done in another country or even neighborhood to be effective. Good conquers evil. Period. Do the most good where you are with what you have been given. And keep doing good until your last breath.

We can live surrounded by things we fear and find peace anyway. We can accept things we can’t control and choose to take our responsibility for the things we can. We don’t have to be overcome with evil. We can instead cling to the good.

You might not be great at this yet, and that’s okay too, but start practicing. Let fear be the indicator that reminds you to draw near to God, resource yourself, and do the most good. It’s then that you turn an out of control situation into one that you can confidently walk through.