Control is a good thing. Controlling one’s temper is a must for those who follow Jesus. Controlling one’s food intake is critical for maintaining a healthy body. Controlling the expenditure of money is crucial for any family on a tight budget.

     Yet control can be a hindrance when taken to excess. A boss who is reluctant to pass on responsibilities to her assistant can limit the effectiveness of an organization. A parent who prematurely intervenes in a disagreement between her children can limit their capacity for learning the tools necessary for resolving conflict.

     When taken too far, control can do more harm than good. A line is crossed when one’s sense of responsibility descends into a feeling of unrestrained anxiety. Fear is the underlying reason why so many of us cannot let go.

     However, the writer of Psalm 94:19 provides an encouraging insight. “Whenever I am anxious and worried, you comfort me and make me glad.” In Hebrew, the word comfort carries forward the idea of providing strength or help to another. 

     The kind of strength or help God provides is many and varied. The most direct means by which God helps His people is through the intervention of the Holy Spirit. Though most often God assists us by sending human helpers.

     This is good news for control freaks. But helpers also provide a challenge. The helper may not do certain tasks in the same ways we do. The helper also may overshadow our contributions by superseding everyone’s expectations.

     Yet to refuse consistently the assistance others offer to us is essentially a way of saying, “Thanks, but no thanks, for the help, God. I can do this on my own.” The Christian author, A. W. Tozer, once said:

     The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward  progress is because they haven’t yet come to the end of themselves. We’re still trying to give orders and interfere with God’s work within us.

     Letting go requires being humble enough to recognize that we do not know everything. We cannot do everything. But with God’s help we can accomplish anything.

     The most difficult task any of us will face is to find passage to the end of ourselves. Yet the point at where we end is the very place where God begins doing His greatest work.