Manage YOURSELF

There is a certain prayer that many Christians pray. We don’t always pray it out loud. In fact many times we don’t even completely say it in our minds, but we still think it (at least partially). It’s a prayer that must be thousands of years old. It goes like this:

“God, make me do better. Take control of my hands and my feet and make me do right!’

I’ll admit it; I’ve prayed this prayer. And I’m willing to bet you’ve prayed this prayer too. As I said, we don’t always say it out loud.  And we may not say those exact words; but it’s a prayer I believe most Christians have prayed at some point in their lives. We want God to MAKE us do better; MAKE us be better. We want God to reach into our bodies, (like a spirit possession) and MAKE us say what we’re supposed to say and do what we’re supposed to do. We want Him to FORCE us to go where we’re supposed to go and “with His mighty hand” keep us from doing what we’re not supposed to do. And we mean it literally, not figuratively. We literally want God to TAKE control of our bodies and MAKE us do right.

Sounds like a sensible pray, right? Isn’t it reasonable to want God to TAKE control? We hear choirs sing about it all the time at church. And preachers stand in the pulpit and pray it over congregations all the time saying, “…and Lord, TAKE control of this service…in Jesus name, Amen” Is it so terrible to want God to TAKE control of our lives so we don’t have to struggle with it any more?

Well, let me draw you an illustration of that prayer request. Let me show you what you’re really asking when you say “God MAKE me do better”.

Imagine a father who has three children. His children are teenagers, all various ages. Now let’s say all of his children have been really disobedient. They’ve been misbehaving at school, at home; even at church. Worse, their disobedience keeps happening; over and over. Again and again the father has to answer for something terrible one of his children has done. Again and again the father has to talk to teachers, principals and even city police for yet another outrageous act by his children. And no mater what punishment the father issues out, the children continue to act up. They just keep doing wrong and he can not figure out why.

After a while the father gets an idea. He decides tie them up from their head to their feet. This way they can’t get into trouble simply because they don’t have their hands or feet to get into trouble with. So he puts them in straight-jackets, binds their legs, puts a face guard over their mouths and has them carted around campus on a hand-truck all day. And everything is fine.

That’s what you’re asking when you pray “God MAKE me better”. When you tell God TAKE control, your saying that you’re a monster and you need God to tie you up like Hannibal Lector. You want Him to remove control over your hands, remove control over your feet, remove control over your thoughts and completely control your actions. In other words, you want God to be “You” for you. And while God is doing all the “driving”, I guess you’ll be somewhere deep inside your body just “kickin’ back” enjoying the ride.

Now, let me tell you what God answers to this prayer: "NO".

It’s NO every time. He’s not going to TAKE control. He won’t FORCE you to be better. He won’t MAKE you do what you’re supposed to do. In fact, God isn’t going to MAKE you do anything at all. I promise you; if you wait for Him to TAKE control; I guarantee things will stay out of control. And I can prove it; there are people who have lived 50 and 60 years with their lives out of control waiting for God to TAKE OVER. I bet they wonder what they could have done with their lives if God would have ever agreed to just TAKE control; but he hasn’t; and he won’t.

So, why wont He? Why won’t God TAKE control?

God won’t do that to you because development can’t happen that way. You will never mature if God made all your decisions for you. Your behavior can’t improve until you learn to control YOURSELF. You can’t progress until you are in control of YOU. Eventually you will learn to make the right choices instead of always making the wrong ones; but not if God makes all your choices for you.

God gave you freewill to make decisions and choices for yourself and he’s not going to TAKE control from you. You have to learn to make the right choices and enjoy the rewards of right choices or continue to make wrong choices and suffer the punishment of wrong choices. God is not going to MAKE you make the right choice. There is a verse in the bible that says:

“When I was a child, I spoke as a child; I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” 1 Corinthians 13:11

Notice this verse does not say “…God took away childish things”. It says “I PUT AWAY” childish things. God’s not going to FORCE you to do a single thing. He’s not going to feel “sorry” for you and TAKE control. If you don’t’ take control of yourself, I guarantee you’ll spend the rest of your life facing punishment after punishment until you’re 70 years old sitting around in a retirement home still wondering “…when is God going to take control?”

Don’t wait for God to tie you up and MAKE you do right. MANAGE YOURSELF. YOU control YOU. MAKE yourself behave. Put yourself into a straight-jacket by refusing to do what’s wrong. Lock yourself away from friends who tempt you to be bad. TAKE control of your own actions and MAKE yourself better. There’s no need to ask God to TAKE control from you because you have the will-power and the mind to control yourself.