How to Control Your Own Destiny

This morning I read a story in the paper about a Navy commander who has written a book on leadership. The article included a picture of the author with this quote in big letters: “It’s all about controlling your own destiny.”

 So I thought to myself, I would really be doing a great service to the readers of my blog if I told them how they, too, could control their own destiny. Even without reading the commander’s book.

So here’s how to control your own destiny:

The white space is a little bit of sarcasm. Because there is no “how to” that will enable you or me to control our destiny. The idea of literally “controlling your own destiny” is a joke. Like an ant looking at a mountain, and declaring, “One day this will all be mine!”  Words like delusional, grandiose, and inflated self-importance come to mind. Only God can control destiny. You and I can barely control a sneeze, let alone a destiny.

Now of course people probably don’t mean it literally. Maybe it only means, “Stop playing the victim and blaming other people for your lousy life. Make choices that will move you toward your goals.” That’s good advice. But it's a long way from the lofty claim that you control your destiny.

Our Christ is the One who truly controls the destiny of all things. Hebrews says of Him, he upholds the universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3b). Submitting to Him may seem like the opposite of control. But placing your destiny in the hands of Someone who is infinitely wise and powerful, and who is absolutely committed to the blessing of His own, is the best way to take responsibility for your life.

Passive Voice

It hit me the other night that even in dying, Jesus shows us how to live.

I was reading Jesus' words in Luke 9:22: The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

We mustn’t miss the way Jesus said these things. Because they signal His willingness to submit, to cede control of His life and death to others. The “action words” in the sentence—rejected…killed…raised—are spoken in passive voice.

Active voice means that the subject of the sentence performs the action.  Like “John threw the ball.” But passive voice means that the subject is “passive” – it is acted upon. “The ball was thrown.” The actions – rejecting, killing, raising—were done to Jesus.

You and I have a hard time giving up control. Even when we know in our hearts that we are powerless to control anything, still we try to maneuver and manage the process, direct and ordain the outcome, of just about everything.

Imagine what it must have been like for Jesus. He was in control.  …by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  Colossians 1:16-17.

Yet He was rejected, killed, and raised. Total submission by Someone totally in control. Total submission comes from total trust. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit! Luke 23:46.

Living as a Christian means living before God in passive voice—trusting and obeying, but ceding control to Him. That’s how Jesus lived and died and rose again.

Out of Control

My wife and I just spent a week with our older son and his family. I had fun being Grandpa and playing with my grandchildren. 

We went to the park and spun on the merry-go-round. My job was to propel the merry-go-round "faster, faster," until my almost-five-year-old granddaughter was horizontal to the ground, hanging onto the railing for dear life. If she had let go, she would have been flung out like a little blond missile.

Of course my other job was to immediately stop the merry-go-round if she became afraid or was in real danger of losing her grip. 

Have you ever felt like your life is spinning so fast you're in danger of losing your grip? It's easy to forget that there is Someone who actually controls the merry-go-round.

Paul said it this way: …in him all things hold together (Col. 1:17b, ESV).

“All things” means the molecules of my body. They are held together by Christ. “All things” means the solar system, subatomic particles, and my sanity. Held together by Jesus.

Jesus holds me together. Just because something is out of my control doesn't mean it's out of His. My progress in holiness and faith, my path to heaven, are only certain because my Lord holds them together. Why doesn’t the moon come crashing down and destroy our planet? And why is my life never really out of control, even though it may feel like it? Because Jesus holds all things together. 

His strong hand is always on the merry-go-round. And on the planet. And on my heart.