illusion of control

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NLT)
So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and in his good time he will honor you. [7] Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about what happens to you.

Humility is connected to emotional health in this passage. I wonder why?

Well, more than anything I think it is about control. The more control we try to have of our lives and others, the more we place ourselves in positions where anxiety is likely. When you are trying to juggle the whole world to have it “my way,” there is a price to be paid. I remember a saying by John Maxwell.

“Unless God is in control of your life; your life is out of control.”


But isn’t that just what happens in real life? One of the reasons people don’t come to trust in Jesus is because it brings a loss of control. Or at least the illusion of control because we all know there is no controlling, after all. When you say, “Yes,” to Jesus, you say, “No,” to you. It’s hard to admit you need a Savior and a Guide.

Those who do trust in Jesus have a hard time giving up their illusions of control, also. That’s why there is so much shenanigans going on when it comes to the Bible. Take your desires, your efforts to be in charge of what you want in life and then go to the Bible and try to find passages that support your point of view. Or as is more likely the case today, when the Bible universally says your desires are not healthy, just say the Bible isn’t meaningful to your context. Either way Christian or non-Christian, illusion of control is the disease and humility is the cure. When you come to Christ you die to self.