Who Are You Counting On?

If there is one thing that I have learned this year, it is that I am in control of nothing. Although all of my children are adults. My youngest is 31. I am old enough to have two married granddaughters and two adorable great-grandchildren.
Until this year in my desperation to help them avoid some of the mistakes that I have made, I would try to direct or even control situations. There are many subtle ways that you can do this, too.
However, what I finallylearned is when I am in control, I am tying God's hands. If I fix the fix that God fixed to fix 'em, God will have to fix another fix. When I was afraid of not being in control or at least speaking my mind, what I was saying was that I didn't trust God with their lives. I didn't trust God to meet them unless I helped Him.
How ludicrous is that?
Why is it so difficult to give up control of things that we are not in control of anyway? I had to practice. I would release them to father God and then open my mouth or put my sticky fingers in their lives. Then I would repent to both them and to God. The quicker I was to repent, the easier it got to not go there for I would recognize it before I did and stop.
You see always having to give input is a form of self-idolatry and frankly, it is sin. God will have no other gods before Him. Anything that exalts itself above God is an anti-Christ spirit, because frankly it against Him.
This was a very sobering lesson.
As I gave them up and released them, God gave me the opportunity to give up other areas of my life that I had been clutching from finances to my time.
One by one I yielded (and sometimes took back) and got to the point of absolute surrender, God was finally able to move in my behalf. He moved mightily.
Perhaps the biggest show of his grace was our trip to Ireland. It was as if He opened the windows of heaven. He was absolutely extravagant in His provision.
Each time He has required that I step out in faith first. Sometimes that was scary, but I know that "perfect love casts out fear." So I would step out holding on to His perfect love. Now fear no longer has a hold on me.
I recognized that those things, I felt that I needed to control were because out of fear I didn't think they could be met any other way. I believed a lie.
God is more than able. So I am counting on God.