Devotion Booklets for Seasons of the Church Year Lent 2018 | Page 8

Relax!
Sunday, February 18th
Psalm 46:10
The power of being in control is a great feeling, isn't it? Who doesn’t want that feeling? But what
happens when it feels like things are slipping out of your control? How does that feel? You want things
to work out a certain way but no matter how hard you try to push things in that direction, the more
stubbornly those things push back against you. Suddenly, instead of feeling powerful, you feel
frustrated? defeated? deflated?
Or maybe you've experienced times when things are under control, going just like you planned, but
you still felt stressed. Why? Were you anxious about what might go wrong? Maybe you were worried
that something would happen that might be outside of your ability to control and do anything about.
We stress out trying to gain control, but even when we have it, that can stress us out too! What are we
to do?
The Psalmist says, “Relax!” That’s the mental picture behind the instruction, “Be still!” When control
issues are controlling you, it’s time to relax your grip on things a bit. You’re holding on too tightly!
Just how are you s