Out of Control or In Control?

Here's a poem by author Tim Hansel from his book, You Gotta Keep Dancing. Years ago, I shared this poem with you but thought it beneficial to revisit it differently. I refer to this poem when my life trends toward being way too intense. It's called, Did You Ever Doodle, Lord?

"Lord, did You ever do something silly just for the fun of it? For example, did You ever sit and doodle in the air floating somewhere before You had this heavy world upon Your hands? Did you ever let Yourself go and take a wild ride across the galaxies or tie up a rainbow in knots without a thought of what someone else might think? Are the platypus and kangaroo a couple of Your favorite jokes that You keep around for laughs? 

Come on God, let's loosen up the world a bit. Let's use the fireman's hose to knock off the hats of all those cats who stiffen up their backs. They think they own this town! Let's stop traffic for a day. Let's have a ticker-tape parade for all the orphans we have made. Let's turn the land into a fair and throw confetti in the air and celebrate that You have come to join us here. Come on God, let's go...!

If Jesus Christ means anything, it means He's one of us and if His resurrection isn't just a dream for dying men, then He's the One who's come to bring this globe to life again!" 

To me, Tim’s poem is whimsical and musical, and hopefully music to your ears. I like his approach. Relax, cool your jets, take a deep breath, get a checkup from your neck-up. Get out of the driver’s seat of the car and let God drive for a while. If you’re not having fun, you need to back up and find out where you left Jesus. 

Like most people, when things get intense, I get intense. That's when I get frustrated, angry, or fearful. I lose perspective and get darn-right obnoxious. Sometimes, little things that I want to happen quickly become big things that end up bothering me. As my intensity increases, my patience and demeanor decrease. Then those big things I can't seem to get to turn into huge things I can't seem to get to. That robs me of strength and joy. I become entangled, like Br'er Rabbit, in tar babies of my own making. Fighters and reformers like me do that.  

Does that happen to you too? Do you get intense? It's frustrating. I'm like, "I want this fixed, and I want this fixed now!" Some people would call me weird for that. Do you know what I say to them? "I'm not weird; I'm exotic!" You can use that one. 

Tim Hansel goes on to say learning patience takes a lot of patience! We can't avoid pain or frustration, but we can avoid joy and peace. Charles Swindoll says life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it. We know this, but knowing this and living with this are two different things. Being negative only makes the journey more difficult. You may have been given a cactus, but you don't have to sit on it.

When life gets too intense, we need to understand our limitations. A farmer can't make it rain or give growth. We need to understand we can rely on God to act most wisely and mercifully at the right time. True patience is a calm endurance based on the sure knowledge that God is in control.

For sanity's sake, I try to categorize life this way: What in my current situation is out of my control, and what is in my control? The out-of-my-control stuff is my past, my future, other people's opinions, what others think of me, and the results of things I have no power to affect. Now, let's consider what is in my control. It's my words, my thoughts, my responses, my self-awareness, my attitude, and how I treat others. I have the power to effect change in my very own space. And I must fight like I'm the third monkey trying to get on Noah's ark to control my responses in my very own place. Maybe self-control is simply…controlling yourself. Hello?  

Let me finish with a story called Two Wolves. One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside of us all. One wolf is evil. It is anger, envy, frustration, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other wolf is good. It is joy, peace, love, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?" The old Cherokee replied, "The one you feed." Enough said. 

If you like this article, laugh a bit, and get refreshed, I heartily declare to you, "You're not weird; you're exotic!" And maybe, just maybe if we focus on the good, the good increases.