Letting Go of Control With God’s Help

Do you struggle with letting go of control and holding on to things too tightly? You may want control because you have a fear of the unknown, and thinking about the future makes you anxious.

Or maybe it’s a different reason for you, but here’s the truth:

God literally has the whole world in His hands.

Once you rest in that fact, you can finally start loosening anxiety’s grip over you. Think about it for a moment. The control you’re clinging to, my bet is it’s making you even more anxious. 

He Cares for You

First Peter 5:7 is a popular verse, and I’m sure you’ve heard it recited to you by others when you’ve told them you’re anxious. I’m going to type it out again here: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

This verse is thrown out there so often to those of us who have anxiety as we’re told to “just cast your anxiety on Him.” But I don’t want to focus on the first part of the verse. I’m going to look at the last half of it.

“Because he cares for you.”

He loves you, Mama. The God of the universe. The Creator of everything we see. And He wildly pursues you and is crazy about you. 

He Sees You

Let’s take a look at a mama in the Bible who had zero control over her life.

Hagar found herself in a situation that was not her choice. She was a servant of Sarah, and Sarah was the wife of Abraham, a man whom God promised He would make “into a great nation” (Gen. 21:18). Sarah was unable to conceive and did not believe God would provide her with a child.

She took matters into her own hands, and she told her husband to go sleep with her servant and build a family through her. Hagar then became pregnant, and both women grew to despise the other due to their circumstances. And so, Sarah mistreated Hagar. Hagar—pregnant, all alone, and probably terrified—fled into the wilderness.

An angel appeared to her and told her to return to Abraham and Sarah. He promised that her descendants would increase “too numerous to count,” and he told her to name her son Ishmael because God listened and heard her misery. Hagar responded, “You are the God who sees me. . . . I have now seen the One who sees me” (Gen. 16:13).

God saw her.

God Takes Care of You

A woman who had no control whatsoever over her status, her life, her choices—nothing. Zilch. And God saw her. 

In Genesis 21, after Sarah gave birth to her son, Isaac, she couldn’t stand the sight of Hagar and Ishmael. She ordered Abraham to send them away. Abraham was apprehensive at first, but God told him to listen to his wife, for He would make a great nation out of Ishmael too.

Abraham sent Hagar and her son away, giving them water and food for their journey. They wandered through the Desert of Beersheba. When their water had run out, Hagar laid her son under a bush because she could not bear the thought of watching him die.

God heard the cries of her son, and an angel appeared to her and said, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation” (Gen. 21:17–18). God opened Hagar’s eyes, and before her was a well of water. God took care of both of them.

God comforts us in our anxiety. God strengthens us when we feel like our life is spiraling out of control and we don’t know what to do.

Reflection:

• How can you let go of control today? How can you lean into God’s care for you in your anxiousness?
• As you pray today, let go and give to God one situation you’ve been struggling with.

Courtney Devich is a mama relying on Jesus and reheated coffee every day. Her writing has appeared in Her View From Home, TODAY Parents, and For Every Mom, among others. Courtney is a former human resources professional, using her leadership skills to manage kids as a stay-at-home mom. You can find her in the Starbucks line at her local Target, binge-watching TV with her husband, or chasing after a kid (or two) at her home in Michigan.

To learn more about letting go of control and finding joy despite having anxiety, read Mama’s Got Anxiety: But It’s Not Going to Steal Her Joy by Courtney Devich.