September 8, 2025
Theme: Trust Over Control — Resting in God’s Sovereignty
We spend so much energy trying to hold everything together.
Plans, people, outcomes, timelines—
as if our grip could keep life from shifting.
But control is an illusion.
And the tighter we cling, the emptier our hands feel.
What God offers instead isn’t control—it’s peace.
Not a guarantee of outcomes, but the promise of His presence.
Not the burden of managing the world, but the blessing of trusting the One who already holds it.
Words of Light
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
— Proverbs 3:5–6 (NIV)
Reflection
Control feels safe—until it isn’t. We map every step, plan every outcome, and tell ourselves, if I just work harder, think sharper, or stay ahead, I can keep it all from falling apart.
But life doesn’t bend to our will. And thank God it doesn’t. Because if everything depended on our effort, our wisdom, our strength—it would collapse under the weight.
The truth is this: control is a shadow, not substance.
What steadies us is trust.
Trust says:
- I don’t have to understand to obey.
- I don’t have to see the whole road to take the next step.
- I don’t have to carry everything, because I know Who does.
Releasing the illusion of control is not weakness—it’s wisdom. It frees us to rest in the sovereignty of God, to walk lighter, and to see His hand in places our striving blinded us to before.
So let go of the illusion. Choose trust instead.
Your story is safer in His hands than in your own.
Pause and Consider
- Where am I gripping tightly, trying to control what is not mine to hold?
- How has my need for control left me more weary than steady?
- What would trusting God here actually look like, today?
Affirmation
I release the illusion of control.
I trust the One who holds the world and me.
Peace comes when I rest in God’s sovereignty.
Peace,
Rita
Rita Lynn Berry, EdS, LCMHC, is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and the founder of NewVision Counseling and Consulting Services, PLLC. She is also the creator of the Journey to Me™ program and Mend n Muse Media™, where she shares tools and reflections that support healing, resilience, and self-love.