Google Calendar is one of my favorite inventions. Anytime I’m at a computer or have my phone with me (so, pretty much always) I can see my schedule for days, weeks, and months ahead and in the past. Thanks my calendar, I can tell you that on December 27, 2014, I saw the movie Into the Woods at 2 p.m., and that I have a gathering with my book club on January 3, 2017. It’s all in my control, and I can plan and schedule my days down to the minute. Yet I have friends who rarely use a formal system of keeping track of what they’re going to do, preferring to remember it in their head or to simply take days as they come, instead of scheduling out trips to the gym like I often do.
Obviously Google Calendars didn’t exist around the time of Jesus’ birth, yet the characters in the story are excellent examples of people who approached control of their lives in very different ways. In Matthew 2 we read the the story of King Herod, a man who was determined to do anything he had to in order to keep his throne. He controlled his people and his country and wouldn’t let anything change that. So when some wise men came along and started asking about a supposed “king of the Jews,” King Herod did not welcome this news with open arms. Instead, he ordered all baby boys in and near Bethlehem to be murdered, in hopes that this decree would eradicate the new king he had learned of. King Herod lived with a clenched fist, everything held so tightly in his grasp that he was concerned only with his own life and plan and never considered another way.
In contrast, the wise men, who were likely astrologers, were living in a far off land. When they saw the unusual star that eventually led them to Jesus, they set aside their entire lives to listen to the promptings in their hearts telling them to follow the star. They weren’t so set on their plans for the next week or next month that they were unwilling to deviate from their set schedule. Instead, they willingly tossed their plan aside to follow a new one. There was no guarantee of what they’d find on their trek, but they were eager to see if this star they had seen was of the importance they thought it was. Upon finding Jesus, they worshiped him and gladly offered their gifts.
Though we may not like to admit it, it’s easy to become like evil King Herod. I get so caught up in my planning and scheduling that I forget to see where God is breaking into my life and asking me to follow what he has for me instead of what I have for myself. Our culture feeds into this mentality, telling us to be true to ourselves, to do what feels right, and to do whatever it takes to be happy. The call of God is the opposite though. To follow Jesus is to hand over control of our lives because we acknowledge that God’s way is better, even in the times we may not understand his ways.
As we begin a new year, what would it look like to truly give God control of our lives? This idea is often difficult for me, because it sounds good as words we say and even pray, but what it looks like in my actual everyday life can be elusive. Instead of getting caught up in the big picture of what it means to “Give God control of our lives” though, what if we focused on the small, simple acts that make up our lives? How would the way we approach our jobs be different if we sought God’s will for what he wants for us in that place? How would our interactions with our family members, those we see every day and those we see less frequently, change if we committed to seeing them the way God sees them, as people who are deeply loved and valued? How would the way we talk, or the way we schedule our Google Calendar, or the way we shop, be changed if we truly looked for the ways God is present even in those seemingly mundane actions? If we live our lives with hands open to what God has in store, we may be surprised at what we find.
[Brianna DeWitt believes in Jesus, surrounding yourself with good people, and that desserts are best when they involve chocolate and peanut butter. She writes about faith, growing up, and whatever else pops into her head on her own blog, and tweets (largely about food) at @bwitt722.]
No comments:
Post a Comment