Commitment Without Control

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. Acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5–6 NET)

I love commitment.

I love the security of a promise and the firm embrace of a covenant. Yes, it’s weighty but it’s like the comfort of a weighted blanket that dispels anxiety and comforts in the warmth of its embrace. I love that commitment says, I am here and I will choose to be here, not because conditions are perfect but because love that makes the deliberate decision to stay through the imperfections. I find commitment reflects something deeply true about the heart of God: He deliberately chooses and He keeps His promises even when it costs Him everything.

And yet, when I speak honestly with God, I realise that commitment has never meant certainty or is something that can be controlled. I find that it has actually meant the complete and total opposite.

When I say yes to the Lord, I am saying yes to the unknown; I am agreeing to walk without the illusion that I am able to control for outcomes I desire, no matter how good or godly my desired outcomes may be. I am choosing faith over foresight and surrender over strategy. And strangely, this discomfort and lack of control is where I have found the most supernatural peace.

I often say, I want to trust You, but I also want to know what comes next. I can’t have both: the Lord continually and gently reminds me that those two things rarely coexist. Trust does not grow where control is clutched tightly. Commitment to Christ requires open hands.

The Lord gently continues to release me from the grip of the sin of grasping after control and He anchors me in a confidence found only in His gift of faith, the hope found only in Him, and trusting in Jesus’ commitment to be true to every promise of God. In God’s continuing invitation to surrender, I have found that He is able to hold me more securely that any earthly security.

Leslie Hall

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NET)

Reflection questions

• Where am I currently trying to remain committed to God while still holding onto control?

• What discomfort might God be inviting me to trust Him within rather than escape from? How could surrender here deepen peace rather than diminish it?