Our need for control is leaving us exhausted
We must learn to embrace uncertainty rather than trying to control it.
As technology advances more and more and faster and faster, it can leave us feeling exhausted in trying to keep up with the oceans of information that bombard us on a daily basis. We are not meant to compete with computers who have no emotion or soul, and yet in many cases, whether subtly or overtly, that appears what many are attempting to do. I think in many cases, an epiphany is emerging and we have finally come to realize that our need to keep up with the joneses, to try and stay ahead of the information landslide and seek constant social media affirmation is leaving us exhausted. Our desire for control in trying to manage every outcome, every threat, and every decision is in fact debilitatingly exhausting. Simply put, we are exhausted from our need to control.
So what is the answer? How can we learn to manage our energy in a way that we don't feel exhausted in a world that seems to overwhelm us with information on a faster and faster pace? We must learn to live by a counter-narrative to the madness that only leads to exhaustion. We must learn to not play the game of life on those terms. We must be willing to trust what our soul is telling us and live life on more sustainable and enjoyable terms. How do we do this? We need to let it go of our need for control and turn it over to God as Matthew 11: 28-30 invites us to: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Our need for control is a shield that we build to try to protect ourselves in the unsafe environments and ever-changing circumstances of this world. But are we ever really in control of what really makes us fearful? Do we have any control of what the media is going to release to make us even more anxious or worried than we already are? They have figured out that we are controllable when we are always searching for information that makes us feel like we're in control. We are the subjects of their control experiments so they can get us to respond in a way that best suits their objectives.
How about this mindset instead of our need for control, we really embrace the idea that there is no certainty in anything but God and so we learn to not only embrace uncertainty but thrive in it. We learn to see uncertainty as a wild adventure that we enjoy rather than a risk we need to tightly control, which only leads to exhaustion. But to do so, we must learn to give up control to the One who truly knows the future. God is stable and His very nature is unchanging. He is love, He is good, and He is Sovereign over all. Our faith is not circumstantial. It’s stable because God is stable. He is not changing like the tides or the wind. By leaning into Him and His promises, we can then have the freedom to see every other uncertain thing through a lens of exhilaration rather than fear. This will change our exhaustion into vitality for whatever life throws our way. Try it- it works. God has us.
#doughallmedia #thewell #cureforexhaustion
