“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food, and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” – Genesis 3:6
And so it began- humanity’s love affair with control. Oh, the seductive lure of control. It looks so pretty and seems so comforting. It offers the false promise of meeting our needs, fulfilling our longings, and making us so powerful that no one could ever hurt us again.
Sorta like Meth.
As a matter of fact, control is so addictive that even for those of us who have clued into the fact that control is not such a healthy thing and have determined to relinquish it, we find ourselves drawn back into its grasp time and again. Then the day comes when we look around and find we have begun behaving more like raging animals than human beings and all of our relationships are frayed and tattered and we began to realize we have fallen off the wagon and begun binging on control once again.
Perhaps this is the struggle which is at the core of the terra firma experience of the child of God- a perpetual picking up and laying down of the reins until The Prince of Peace returns. Maybe it is why Jesus described our ideal relationship with God as simply “abiding in the vine” in the same way a branch on a grapevine rests in the provision and care of the gardener.
Nothing to do. Nothing to become. Nothing to master. Just surrender to The Gardener’s care.
“Jesus, I surrender once again. I’m worn out with the struggle to control. Help me let go a little sooner next time. Amen“
