How to Lead When Things Feel Out Of Control

Since the pandemic began, counselors and other health care workers have experienced an unprecedented increase in their workload. Anxiety has gripped the lives of thousands as concerns about wellness and mortality, economic turbulence, job insecurity, and political destabilization have skyrocketed. The pandemic has turned the world upside down in ways most have never experienced. Of course, anxious times are nothing new. The people who lived in Jesus' day had their own set of worries that were just as serious as anything we've experienced the last two years. Jesus was very much aware of their concerns and spoke to them straightforwardly. His words are just as applicable to us as they were to his first listeners.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus reminds us that we cannot add one hour to our life span and not to be anxious about things like food and clothing because 

"…. your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." (Matthew 6:32b-33).

In other words, we don't have near as much control over our lives as we think, so why should we get worked up over things that are out of our hands? It's much wiser to entrust those things to the One who is really in control. The fact is we have control over very little, but we live with the illusion that we do. From this illusion, springs worry, anxiety, and sleepless nights. At some point between childhood and adulthood, we deceive ourselves into thinking that we are in the driver's seat. Kids are not in control, but they know they're not, and they're fine with that. Somewhere along the way, though, we lose that understanding, and almost as a protective device, we convince ourselves that we've got a handle on things.

We have no more control over our lives than I did over the first horse I attempted to ride. When I was 13 years old, I went to a church camp that offered horseback riding as an activity. I showed up at the barn, and the wrangler introduced me to Bullet. That should have told me something right there. We were the last ride of the day, which meant we got to run the horses on the final stretch. To prep us for the run, the wrangler pointed out a big oak tree and said, "when we passed that tree to start pulling back on the reins, and the horses would stop."

Apparently, Bullet wasn't listening because we shot past that tree-like running the Kentucky Derby. I was pulling on the reins for all I was worth, but he paid me no mind whatsoever. The wrangler had to catch us and bring that crazy horse to a halt.

The ridiculous thing is that for the better part of that ride, I thought I was in control of the horse, but in the end, he showed me who was in charge. Sometimes it doesn't matter how hard we pull on the reins. Life has a way of going as it will. We can be hit any day by any number of factors that are completely out of our hands, things that strike at the very heart of our sense of security. Reality pops the control illusion, and anxiety begins to grow, but the good news is that it doesn't have to! Jesus says, look, you were never in control, to start! Maybe you thought you were, but now you know you're not, now you know how things really are! Now you can begin to discover just how good God is because He's the only option you have!

Ask Yourself:

Are you struggling with anxiety? Jesus' message is to give up the faulty thinking that you are in control and embrace the correct thought that God is in control and that He cares for you!