Showing posts with label control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label control. Show all posts

Sunday, January 12, 2014

WHO IS THE PILOT?



Here's some fun for the day…...

TRIVIA:
Which four states touch at one point?

BRAIN TEASER:
A bat and a ball cost $1.10.   The bat costs one dollar more than the ball.  How much does the ball cost?

JOKE:
Q:  Why did the tomato turn red?
A:  It saw the salad dressing.

HUMOROUS QUOTE:
"I just got out of the hospital.   I was in a speed reading accident.  I hit a bookmark."
(Steven Wright)


COMIC FUN:





TRICIA'S TWEET OF THE DAY:
In the midst of troubles, give thanks to God and trust Him to lead you to bigger and better things.




WHO IS THE PILOT?  An observation

Our family recently went to Florida for a vacation.   On the travel back we had various airplane issues as far as delays and cancellations.   It seems that airline travel is an extra pain these days.  There is always something going on with the trip.   I was telling our daughter how flying used to be pleasant.  She was saying she never liked it and that she prefers to have the control like you have with driving.   You control your schedule a bit more with driving and you or someone you know is at the wheel.   Plus, you can take nice little pit stops along the way at diners and such.

Our trip home got me thinking (as everything does) about the analogy between an airline pilot taking us on a trip and our true pilot, God, taking us through life.  Also, how many of us like the feeling of control.

As I was contemplating control and airline travel, the thing that hit me as interesting was how we trust the pilot to take us where we need to go.   We trust him with our life.   We don't know this person and a lot of the times we don't even see the pilot until we are leaving the plane.   The funny thing is, how often do we try to take over the flying of the plane from this stranger?  How often do we tell the pilot to scoot over and let us take control?  How often do we think we know better than the pilot and so we're going to fly the plane?  "Scoot over pilot…I got this…"  Well, for me, that would be never, and I assume that's the case for most people.   The thing is, we know the most experienced person to fly the plane is the one calling the shots.  We trust that and don't try to push the pilot out of the way.   

We have God as our pilot for our lives and yet we often try to take over control of the 'plane' from Him.  How much more experienced and wise than us is God at knowing what's best?   He created the Universe and we still try to take over the controls and tell God "..I got this, let me handle it…"   God is much better equipped to be 'calling the shots' than us.  Many people can't see God working in their lives, not because they lack faith, but because they insist on having too much control.   

If we can board a plane and trust that the pilot is the best equipped to fly the plane, then we should also realize that God is the most equipped to guide our lives.  


TRIVIA ANSWER:
Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico

BRIAN TEASER ANSWER:
The ball cost 5 cents.  One dollar more than 5 cents is $1.05 which gives a total of $1.10


Until next time…..


Sunday, October 6, 2013

LETTING GO OF CONTROL





Here's some fun for the day.......

TRIVIA:  (answer below)
What is Hershey’s most popular product?

BRAIN TEASER:

You throw away the outside and cook the inside.  Then you eat the outside and throw away with inside.  What are you eating?

JOKE:
Q:  What do you call a fake noodle?
A:  An Impasta


QUESTION FOR THE DAY:
Whose cruel idea  was it to put an ‘s’ in the word lisp?

COMIC FUN:






TRICIA’S TWEET OF THE DAY
If you are going through a difficult time, expect that God will work things out for your good.


LETTING GO OF CONTROL


I read something recently that was a good example of focusing on what’s important, keeping your eyes on the goal and letting go of control.   It was in a devotional from Bryant Wright.   Here is the story/example he shared.





Walking through freshly fallen snow, a father wanted to teach his son a key lesson in life.  He said “Son, I’m going to walk to that tree fifty feet ahead in a perfectly straight line.   Then I want you to do the same.”

The father walked to the tree.  He turned to look at his son and they both observed the perfectly straight tracks in the snow.  




Not wanting to fail the test, the son looked at his father and began to walk.  He looked down at his steps and veered to the left.   He looked up and corrected his course.  He looked down again.   When he looked down,  he veered to the right and had to correct his course once more by looking up at his father.  Arriving at the tree, his tracks told the story of his mistakes.  





His father explained, “Son, as long as you focused on me, your tracks were straight.   The moment you took your eyes off me, you got off track.   The key is keeping your eyes on the goal.”


And so it is with us and our lives.   The father in the story represents our Heavenly Father.   If we keep our focus on God and stop trying to be in control of our steps, we will walk that straight line and stay on course.  It’s when we think we can handle our situations better than God that we get into trouble.   That ever present problem with needing to be in control of our situations.  Trips us up every time.

A lot of people find comfort in control, or at least they think they do.   In reality, holding onto control just leads to those ‘wobbly footprints in the snow’ so to speak.   Letting go of the control and handing it over to God is actually an incredibly freeing feeling.   

When we are kids, we trust our parents to take care of things for us.   We are not in such a need for control.  We don’t have a problem with relying on someone for our well being.  Something seems to happen with that along the way as we grow up.  We need to keep that childlike reliance with God.   He’s our Father, Creator of all things and He can control all situations better than we can.  

Sometimes it helps for me to mentally picture handing my problems over to God when I feel like I’m trying to rely on myself too much.   I picture the situation in a box in my hands.  Then I raise it up to God and ask Him to take it from me and work it out to His will.  He knows better than me how it should go.   There is a great feeling of release when I push that imaginary box up towards Heaven and He takes it from me.

God created us and He knows what’s best for us way more than we do.    We would not be here without Him, so trust Him.   Think of the footprints in the snow next time you feel overwhelmed.   Keep your head up and walk straight towards the goal.....straight towards God.   Focus on HIm and He will keep your path straight.



Proverbs 3: 5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.   Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.



TRIVIA ANSWER:
Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

BRAIN TEASER:
An ear of corn


Until next time.........