Feeling Out of Control? You Are Gaining Something Even Greater

In both Christian and non-Christian circles, the message of hope in this generation has never been so needed.

A few nights ago at 9:30pm, I sat in the emergency vet and cried. Our dog had eaten seven pieces of gum and my initial internet search told me it could be lethal. So I found myself driving over, trying to contain my tears, and then waiting, trying to contain my tears. Until finally they told me he would be fine since he didn’t ingest a large quantity.

And then I sobbed.

Because if you are like me, you are feeling a bit out of control these days. A year and a half ago, in that very ER, I said goodbye to my sweet dog Isabella. As the memories swelled back into my mind, so too did the burdens of the week. For the past week many of my hours have been focused on current details of the spread of COVID-19. I scan my Facebook and it’s filled with fear. I scan the news and it’s filled with doomsday tales.

So by 9:30pm, my sadness spilled over.

“Faith,” Hebrews 11:1 says, “is the substance of things hoped for, the evident of things not seen.” On a global scale, many of us have likely never felt this out of control. But many of us have. Because some of us live in systemic poverty or areas where opportunities are limited. And some of us live daily with the gross effects of cancer ravaging us or our loved ones. And some of us have histories we fight to overcome daily as we seek a semblance of control.

The masses of people are beginning to feel what many of us experience on a daily, personal basis—like the world is spinning out of control, and although we can do a little, it is, by and large, out of our control.

Perhaps this stripping of control, though, is exactly what we all need. Is control, after all, just an illusion? It’s an important question to ask, with an even more important answer. ...