I’m wired for preparation and planning. At home there are insurance policies, savings accounts, and long-term plans. At work, I use buzzwords like risk mitigation, scope creep, and impact to schedule. These all used to be attempts to try and fool myself into believing I was in control. I think for me this provided an artificial sense of peace that there was order, security, and a plan.
However, there was a problem. I was not in control. Because I came to Christ later in life and had been reliant on myself for so long, this pride in my abilities or reliance on self has been one of the single greatest things to give to Christ. So for many years before Christ, as the prophet says in Isaiah 40 verse 2, I was unknowingly serving my term, paying my penalty, and receiving double for my sins. Miraculously though it didn’t end there. In verses 3 and 4, the prophet states that there was a path and a way that was created. While I was there, still in sin, God gave me Jesus. God has had this marvelous plan to redeem humanity through Jesus all along. Having received this beautiful gift, it is now my job to live out verse 5 and glorify God in all that I do. I still have my plans and budgets and concerns that vendors can’t deliver on schedule, but now I realize there is someone above and greater than all those things. Oddly, it is with that realization that I have found true peace. When I give everything over to God, I no longer have to worry about making sure I’ve thought of everything. It is such a simple plan, but God has created this way. We were suffering for our sins, and God interceded on our behalf. He made a path and sent his son Jesus to die for us. When we receive that gift and let him be the Lord of our lives, we glorify Him, and it is there that we find peace.
Jason Knight