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God knows how strong and driving your need is—He designed it that way. You can be confident that by turning and drawing near to God He can and will meet that need! Repentance can help you experience what God offers freely.

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Security by Self-Protection

 and Control are Evidence of

Our Strong Desire and Need

for God's Presence!

Control is important to us. But under the surface there is something deeper—something much more important. The Bible says of God, "He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords" (1 Tim. 6:15). We want control because control is directly related to the sovereignty of God and our desire for Him.

What do we have when we think we are in control? Security. Control is not the issue. We need to feel secure. Control is just one of the many ways we try to feel secure. Many of us struggle and don’t move forward in our relationship with God because we think we have to give up control. Doing so scares us so much that we are often afraid to cooperate with Him. But we only want control because we long so desperately to feel secure.

Don’t focus directly on trying to force yourself to give up control! Instead, focus on making God your security. The Bible says, "O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security" (Isa. 38:14). When the closeness of God’s presence becomes your security, you will find freedom to move forward in your relationship with Him. When God becomes your security, you won’t have to demand that God do what you want. When God becomes your security, you won’t have to withdraw from Him because of fear that you might not get your way. It is much easier to obey when you trust that God has your best interest in mind and you let Him be in control. Fight against your disbelief.

I remember sitting in the passenger seat and teaching my daughter to drive. Control would have been nice. There were times when I wanted to grab the steering wheel and take over, but I didn’t. She wouldn’t have learned anything if I had demanded control. She actually did quite well. She didn’t need me to take over. Boil it all down? Control wasn’t what I really wanted. Security was the real issue. I wanted us to be safe. I didn’t want to hurt anyone else. I didn’t want any possibility of her over correcting on a turn and ending up in the wrong lane with traffic coming head on. It is never about control. Wanting control is only a desperate demand for something that will make us feel secure.

Does being in control provide the security that it promises? Does it provide the reassurance? Control does seem to be reassuring at times. But it is based on a kind of security that isn’t real. Is there anything that we can truly control? Not really.

At times, I suppose having the remote for the TV gives me a feeling of being in control. But in reality, I can’t control power outages. Being able to change the channel when a commercial comes on doesn’t provide much in the way of reassurance. I can’t control those times when I am out voted by others in the family who think they know what to watch better than Dad. I can’t even make sure there are always extra batteries for when the remote goes dead. There are demands for batteries in our home that might use up our supply of extras. Drawing close to a God who is sovereign, and having Him draw close to us, has far more glory in it than believing lies about being in control of our surroundings.

There is hope for those who want out of the battle to be in control: learn to possess His presence. The psalmist did and you can too: "God is my strong fortress" (2 Sam 22:33). We can experience God as our security: "He provides them with security, and they are supported; and His eyes are on their ways" (Job 24:23). When you make the Spirit your security, you don’t need to demand control. You can rest from the pressure to control when the closeness of God is what reassures you. When you let yourself enjoy possessing the Spirit, the need for security is being met another way.

Don’t settle for having to feed on your own sense of being sovereign. "Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Ps. 46:10). Remember that He is God, not you. While standing before the Lord and receiving the light of His presence, trust that you are also putting on the humility of Christ.

Try to remember that power and control are important to us because of our thirsty desire to feed on the closeness of a sovereign God. When you see other people in love with their own power and control, remind yourself of your own longing for God. You were designed to experience God. Make Him your security like a child who finds reassurance by wrapping up in their favorite blanket. Draw close and let Him draw close to you.

That we need security is obvious. Many earthly pursuits are toward this end. 

When we work so hard to achieve in some area so that we can drink from it, we also believe we have to protect the level of glory we think we have "earned." We suffer great pain and we hurt those around us because of living by faith in ourselves as our source of security. 

For some of us our main method of feeling secure has to do with avoiding any and every possible risk. We don't want to be wrong, so we avoid making decisions. We say, "I don't want to talk about it." When we find evidence that we have protected ourselves from something we feed ourselves with our "success." Sometimes we feed on it for days afterward by daydreaming about how well we did.

Others protect themselves by verbally attacking others. Often the target is relational adequacy. Common is to build oneself up in the eyes of others and then put everyone else down. Protection by these means is obviously damaging and unloving. Many people—even in Christian churches, are hurt deeply by these kinds of tactics. 

Some of us protect ourselves by controlling more, intimidating more, or being more condemning. Sill others of us take these same behaviors and turn them toward ourselves. All of these kinds of behaviors are damaging. 

Often, it is our commitment to self-protection that keeps us away from God. But the constant pain resulting from failure to feel secure can deepen your commitment to depend on yourself—or, it can be what drives you to God.

The Bible promises a place of safety beyond what most Christians experience.

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, ‘My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!’ For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark." (Psalm 91:1-4)

I believe it is possible to experience the protection of God the way King David did. I long to experience God this way. I am sure that you do also.

"One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord And to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock." (Psalm 27:4 -5)

When we enter and stay before the Lord, God becomes our refuge and protection. Like sheep inside a fence are safe from predators, we are kept safe when we stay before the Lord.

"For You have been a refuge for me, A tower of strength against the enemy. Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings..." (Psalm 61:3,4)

It also says,

"I have set the Lord continually before me...Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will dwell securely." (Psalm 16:8,9)

Rather than daydreams and pretending we are safe, we need to enter the throne room of God and "set the Lord before us." The apostle Paul said we should put on the armor of light (Rom. 13:12). The psalmist said it this way,

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear; Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident" (Psa. 27:1-3).

The passage immediately following talks about dwelling in the temple of the Lord—to behold His beauty. It is by doing so that you experience the light of God as your defense and protection. Of people who walk in the light from Gods face it says that God is the glory of their strength (Psa. 89:15-17). It also says that God is their shield. 

The whole process of finding security in earthly things is evidence that we were designed with a desperate longing to abide in the presence of Christ. By patiently and wisely working truth down into your heart you can find freedom to draw near to God and experience His closeness to you in these ways. Repentance can help you! 

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I am praying for the Lord's abundant blessing on your efforts to direct your heart toward Him.

Barry.

       Understanding Yourself — Continued...

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(C) Barry Hall 1999

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