Surrendering Control of Ourselves

We have a tricky relationship with control. It is true God gives us agency, and we are responsible to steward that well. However, our agency is limited. We cannot control nearly as much as we would like. So we strive and cling to control, and when the illusion of our control is broken we either cling grasp all the more for power or we resort to deflated inactivity. This year in the season of Lent, we will experiment with surrendering control. If you were not with us last week, we invite you to make some time this week to listen to the teaching of Mandy Smith and craft an experiment.

This week, we looked at our tendency to grasp for control with ourselves. We asked what it might look like for us to surrender ourselves as living sacrifices, to lay down our lives for our friends, to love God and neighbor. How might we, as Jesus promised, lose our lives in order to find them?

You can find the Order of Practice here.

If you are organizing a group or you would like help getting connected for the experiment, please let us know here.

Kingdom Practice
Our kingdom practice this week is to continue our experiments. If you haven’t crafted an experiment it’s not too late to join us. We would encourage you to make time this week to listen to the teaching of Mandy Smith and craft an experiment.

As you practice your experiments, you may be learning about what is helpful and what is not. The start of a new week is always a good time to consider tweaking the experiment. Perhaps something resonated in our reflection on controlling resources, or maybe the hazelnut and breath prayer of “All shall be well” was helpful.

Additional Resources

Unfettered by Mandy Smith
The Cost of Control by Sharon Hodde Miller
The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb by Jamin Goggin and Kyle Strobel
Revelations of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich

Full interview with Mandy Smith

Guided Daily Office
Pause (App Store) (Google Play)
Lectio365 (App Store) (Google Play)
Pray as You Go (App Store) (Google Play) 

All Shall be Well a song by Andrew Peterson

If you have a story to share about how you have been encountering God in this season, we would love to hear it! 

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