Are You Exhausted From Trying to Be God?
Do you ever wake up in the early hours of the morning with your mind racing? I wake up every morning at some point in the 4 o'clock hour. It might be 3:56, it might be 4:01, but almost always I see a 4 on the clock when I wake up. My brain starts talking to me, saying, "Remember all that stuff you have no control over? Let's think about that right now. Let's solve those problems." There's something about 4 AM that makes it the perfectly wrong time to be awake, isn't there?
I've realized that these 4 AM wake-ups are my body's way of telling me that I'm trying to do too much. It's my body's way of telling me that I need to let go of things I need to let go of. The truth is, most of us are exhausted for one simple reason.
The Weight We Were Never Meant to Carry
Most of us are exhausted because we're trying to be God. We've decided that we know the best way. We've decided that we know the right outcome. We've decided that we know what it takes to get from here to there. And so we're exhausted from trying to be God.
The stress, the anxiety, the worry—it's not about that to-do list, which may be a mile long. It's about trying to carry a weight that you were never meant to carry. You were never intended to do what God does.
There are all kinds of ways we try to control our lives:
Maybe you're trying to be God in your career, frustrated that you haven't gotten the promotion or respect you wanted
Perhaps you're micromanaging relationships, controlling every detail to ensure the perfect outcome
Maybe you're single and desperately searching for a relationship to fix your problems
Or you're comparing your everyday life to others' highlight reels on social media
Culture tells us the solution is to work harder. "You've got this. Work harder, stay positive, manifest your destiny, take control." This is the message of how to live the kind of life you want to live.
But what if that's actually the problem?
A Prayer of Surrender
In Ephesians 3, Paul writes something powerful that can change the way we approach control in our lives:
"When I think of all of this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth" (Ephesians 3:14-15).
When Paul says he falls to his knees, he's not just talking about the posture of his body. He's talking about the posture of his heart. In the Jewish world, standing was the traditional prayer posture. But kneeling in the ancient world was about recognizing authority. When someone knelt before a king, they were saying, "I am not worthy of you. You are above me."
Paul is saying with his words and with his actions: I am not in control.
Acknowledging the True Creator
The Ephesians Paul wrote to were likely reading his words in the shadow of the Temple of Artemis, where they once worshiped the goddess of fertility. They believed Artemis was the facilitator who brought everything good to being on Earth.
Paul steps into their world and says, "Actually, the Father is the Creator." He's telling them, "You're worshiping the created instead of the Creator."
If Paul were writing to us today, he might say: "When I think of all of this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything, including the universe you're trying to manifest, the reality you're trying to speak into existence, the algorithm you're trying to hack, the body you are trying to perfect, the career you're trying to build, the brand you're trying to establish, the image you're exhausting yourself to create."
Putting Jesus First
As a church, our number one value is "Jesus First." It's where we start. It's what differentiates us from everywhere else in the world. When Jesus is at the center of everything we do, it changes the way we live.
Next Steps: Releasing Control
What if before you got up in the morning and flipped on your phone to start scrolling social media, you took a moment and prayed this prayer?
"Heavenly Father, today I'm going to release things I can't control, people I can't change, and outcomes I can't guarantee. I give it all to you. I'll do what I can with what's in my control and I'll trust you with the rest."
These aren't magic words. They're words to help us remember our place in the story, to remember who God is, and to remember where we are.
Imagine how different our families would look if our kids came downstairs and saw us reading scripture and praying instead of scrolling social media. Imagine how different our workplaces would be if we acknowledged that God is working in and through us. Imagine how different the world would look if we stopped trying to control other people's opinions.
The world is watching us. If you say that you follow Jesus, people want to know if what you believe actually works. They want to know if your life is different. This is all possible when we start living in a way that allows God to be in control and acknowledges that we are not.
As Paul prayed in Ephesians 3:20-21: "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the Church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
