Releasing Control (Part 3) Trusting God When the Outcome Is Unclear 🦋🤍

Releasing control does not mean you stop caring about your life. It means you stop trying to manage what only God can manage.

It means saying:

“God, I will do my part.
But I trust You with the results.”

It means trusting God with:
The timing of your healing.
The direction of your future.
The unfolding of His promises.

#wholeness #healing
#40DaysToWholeness
#BeautifulMe
#TrustGod
#FaithJourney
#HealingJourney
#LetGoAndTrust
#ChristianEncouragement
#WholenessJourney

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Good morning, good morning, good morning, and welcome to the beautiful Me Empowerment Ministry Podcast, a space where we heal and grow and learn together. I am your host, Monique Anderson, and it is indeed a pleasure to serve. It has been a couple of days that I have not done a recording, but you know, I I believe I had mentioned at some point that I was hosting a conference, an empowerment conference in my community uh back home in Jamaica, and so you know, anything that you're doing for God, or anything that you're doing at all, but especially for God, you know, you have to take some time and put a lot of planning, put a lot of work in, and sometimes that may look like you know, pausing for a moment, you know, from some of the other things that you do or that you're involved in, so you can get it right. And I want to report to you this morning that the conference was successful indeed. I'm truly grateful God really and truly showed up and showed out, and He exceeded my expectations, and there's something beautiful about God, God will plan a whole conference for one soul, and so today we rejoice because one young man gave his life to the Lord, and so many other persons were delivered, so many other persons, there was a stirring in their spirit. Uh, so many persons received their spiritual sight, so many persons received insights and clarification. So, restoration did take place. We went in and we reclaimed, amen, and we renewed our mind. Uh, God is just so so amazing, you know. When I when that young man surrendered his life to the Lord, I I just it was such a moment to behold, you know, and I'm like, my God, God will indeed leave the 90 and 9 and go for the one, and it doesn't matter what he has to do or who he has to call upon, and you're obedient in doing what the Lord has commissioned you to do, maybe that move that that one soul might be waiting on, and so God will go through any length and breadth to make sure that that one soul is secured, and that's how amazing He is. And today I am just really grateful. I want to thank everyone who poured in, you know, who sponsored. Oh my god, the girls, they had an amazing time. So, thank you to all those who sponsored the girls, and even those who sponsored some of the adults. I am so so so grateful. Like, you know, those moments when something happened, or maybe something that you've been praying for, and it came through, or just something that you were looking forward to, and you receive it like it came to pass, and is like you're left speechless, you don't even know what to say. In Jamaican terms, they would probably say you're turned fool, you don't even know what to say, and I believe that up until now I haven't had the words, there are no words enough, there's just not enough language to communicate to God my gratitude and my appreciation. But I know one beautiful thing, and that is the fact that He knows the posture of our heart and my heart for days and for a very long time, and even before the conference, has just really always been a posture of gratitude and appreciation because God is so good, He has been so good to me, He is still good to me, and I am just really and truly grateful to God, and I'm grateful for every listener here today. I hope you had an amazing Easter break, and I am just grateful also today that we serve a risen king. I'm grateful for the sacrifice, and today I know that I am redeemed, but with a price, Jesus has indeed saved my whole life, and the songwriter continues to say, if anybody asks you just who I am, tell them I am redeemed. Hallelujah. Father, we come before you today with grateful hearts. Before we ask for anything, we just want to pause in this moment and acknowledge who you are. You are the sovereign God, you are the one who sees the end from the beginning, you are the one who holds our lives in your hands, and your word says in Psalm 121, verses 1 to 2 I lift up mine eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. Hallelujah! And so, God, today we lift our eyes to you. We thank you for carrying us, Abba Father, through every second of our lives. Thank you for every lesson that has shaped us. Thank you for the moments when we thought we wouldn't make it, but you sustained us. Your word says in Isaiah 41, verse 10 do not fear, for I am with you, I will strengthen you and help you. And so today, Daddy God, we release fear, we release anxiety about the future, we release the pressure to control outcome, and we declare, Abba Father, that today, you God, you are guiding our lives, you are working behind the scenes, and your plans for us will unfold in His in your perfect time. We trust you, Father, in Jesus' name, hallelujah, amen and amen and amen. I want to continue today on our series as we talk about control, releasing control, trusting God when the outcome is unclear. Hallelujah. Thank you, God. So, you know, one of the most difficult moments in the journey toward wholeness is when the outcome is unclear. You know, you are doing the work, you are praying, you are trusting God, but you still don't know how things will turn out, you don't know how the relationship will unfold, you don't know how the situation will resolve, you don't know how the promise will manifest, and uncertainty can make us uncomfortable because as human beings, we naturally want clarity and control, but the journey of faith often requires something different, it requires learning to trust God even when we cannot see the final picture, and I'm always reminded that whenever my dad, I think this is probably his favorite scripture, whenever he gets off the phone, whenever we have conversation, he always reminds me to trust in the Lord with all my heart and to lean not to my own understanding, but in all my ways to acknowledge God, and He will direct my path. And yesterday, as I was sitting here, a lady she came to me and she sat with me. Uh, and she was just talking about the journey, and you know, the fact that she has watched my journey and just how far God has brought me, and you know, she was telling me that she was really proud of me, and just talking about the conference and how amazing the conference was, and as she ended the conversation, she reminded me again to trust in the Lord, to trust God even when I cannot see the final picture. And I know I sound very emotional because I I say to you that God really does speak to me as I as He helped allow me to share with you in the mornings, and you know, I got some you know that moment I'm reminded of Elijah, he had that amazing fire experience, and after he had that amazing fire or mountaintop experience, we would call it, and after that, you see in scripture where Elijah retreats and actually wants to die, and I felt like I had an Elijah moment because the conference was amazing, you know. Um, but like I said, God exceeded my expectation, and by the next two days of experiencing that great victory, I found myself in a space of uncertainty because I was waiting on a response for another project, and I got a no and I had an Elijah moment, but this morning the Lord is reminding me to trust him and to release control even when I can't see the final picture. Over the past days, you know, we have been talking about releasing control, and we discussed Abraham and the long waiting season between the promise and the fulfillment, and we saw we saw how Abraham struggled with the tension of waiting. We also saw how God eventually asked Abraham to surrender even the promise itself, and these moments reveal something that is so powerful that faith is not just believing God when things make sense, faith is also trusting God when the outcome is still unclear, and in Romans 4, verse 18, Paul describes Abraham's faith in such a powerful way, he said, Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed, and so became the father of many nations. Abraham believed that even when circumstances suggested the promise was impossible, and when we think about Abraham, and Abraham was his body was old, Sarah was barren, the situation made no logical sense. Yet Abraham continued trusting God's word, and this kind of faith is not based on visible evidence, it is based on confidence in God's character. The Bible tells us that God is not a man that he should lie, neither is he the Son of Man that He should repent. If he said it, believe it. If we were to sit and look over our lives, we can see that God has a clean track record, his character good, we can trust him in Jamaican terms. Then we say you can't put all your pot on him, is a surety that he is going to come through, but he's not gonna go, he's not gonna come through in our timing, but he is going to come through in his timing, and a songwriter says he is an on-time God, yes, he is, he may not come when you want him, but he will be there right on time, he's an on-time God, yes, he is. Predictability makes the nervous system feel safe, but uncertainty creates tension in the brain, and when we do not know what will happen next, the brain can interpret that lack of clarity as a potential threat, and this is why uncertainty often triggers emotions such as anxiety. I always say that my overthinking starts overthinking, you have restlessness, there is fear, and there is a strong urge to control outcomes. The brain essentially tries to solve the uncertainty by creating control. The part of the brain responsible for detecting threats is called the amygdala, and when uncertainty appears, the amygdala can activate a stress response, so your body may react by trying to anticipate every possible outcome, replaying scenarios repeatedly in your mind, planning excessively, trying to manage other people's behavior, attempting to control situations that are actually outside of our control, and these responses, they're not a sign of weakness, they are often learned, learned survival mechanisms. So if someone has experienced instability, trauma, or unpredictable environments earlier in life, the brain becomes even more sensitive to uncertainty. So the mind learns to believe if I control everything, I can prevent pain. But this belief places enormous pressure on the person that is carrying it, so it places a lot of pressure on you and control. Control is really a coping mechanism, it is it is a coping strategy when life once felt chaotic, controlling situations can create a temporary sense of order. I'll give you an example: how conversations some for someone may try to control how conversations unfold, someone may try to control how relationships develop, they may try to control the timing of life event, and we don't have any control over that. Someone may try to control people's reaction, and the problem is that life contains many factors we cannot control. I always tell my young people, I have a circle in my office, it's called the circle of control. What is in your control? You cannot control anything that is outside the circle, which is people, places, and things you cannot control a person's emotions, their play, their feelings, the words that they say, their attitude, their actions, their beliefs. You can't control those things, those things are outside the circle, but what you can control is what is within that circle, and that is you. Other people have free will, circumstances will change, unexpected events will occur, and so trying to control what cannot be controlled leads to chronic emotional stress. You will become exhausted from trying to manage outcomes that are beyond your repair. There's this meme that says, My exhausted is exhausted because you're trying to control everything that is outside of that circle of control. Psychologically, control often feeds a cycle of anxiety, and it may look like this: uncertainty appears, the brain feels unsafe, the person tries to control the situation, temporary relief occurs, but new uncertainty eventually appears again because life will always contain unknowns, and the cycle continues. True peace cannot come from control alone, it comes from learning to tolerate uncertainty and developing trust. Trust in the God who sees, the God who knows, the God who hears, the God who understands. Hallelujah. Emotional maturity involves developing the ability to sit with uncertainty without being overwhelmed by it. And this does not mean you're ignoring the problem, it means recognizing the difference between what we can influence and what we cannot control. Healthy psychological regulation allows us to focus our energy on what is within our responsibility while releasing the rest. And this shift reduces anxiety and emotional exhaustion. And this is where the spiritual perspective becomes powerful. Faith introduces something the human mind desperately needs in uncertain moments, trust in a greater source of stability. When someone believes that God is guiding their life, uncertainty does not have to feel like chaos, it becomes a place where trust grows. Instead of saying I must control everything to be safe, faith allows a person to say, I can do my part and trust God with what I cannot see. And this reduces the psychological pressure to predict and manage every outcome. Wholeness involves emotional, psychological, and spiritual integration. It means our mind, heart, and faith begin working together, and when we release control and trust God, the nervous system gradually learns that uncertainty does not automatically mean danger. Peace begins to replace anxiety, the mind becomes quieter, and the heart becomes lighter. Because we no longer are trying to carry the weight of the entire future by ourselves. We are exercising the scripture that says trust in the Lord with all your heart and lead not to your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. When we release control, we are acknowledging that God's sovereignty is greater than our understanding. And Proverbs 16 verse 9 says, In their hearts, humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps. We can make plans, we can take responsible actions, but ultimately God directs the outcome. And when we trust God's sovereignty, we stop trying to carry burdens that belong to Him. Releasing control does not mean you stop caring about your life. It means you stop trying to manage what only God can. It means saying, God, I will do my part, but I trust you with the results. It means trusting God with the direction of your future, with the timing of your healing, with the unfolding of his promises. Wholeness grows when your hearts are not dominated by fear. When we trust God, anxiety begins to loosen its grip, peace begins to grow because we recognize that our lives are not random, they are guided by a God who is both loving and wise. So today, maybe you want to sit with yourself and ask, where in my life am I struggling with uncertainty? What outcome am I trying to control? What would it look like to trust God with that area today? Hallelujah. Father, help us, God, to trust you when the outcome is unclear. Teach us to release the pressure of trying to control everything, strengthen our faith, fill our hearts with peace, and continue guiding us towards wholeness in Jesus' name. Amen. Sometimes the greatest step toward peace is releasing the need to know how everything will unfold. God is already ahead of you. You don't have to control every outcome. Sometimes faith means trusting God when the picture isn't clear yet. God bless you. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate each and every one of you so much. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your uh comments. Thank you for your support. If today's episode touched you in any way, share it, press like, and follow if you are not already following. And just remember that wholeness grows when our trust in God becomes deeper than our need to control. When we trust God's sovereignty, we begin to relax our grip on outcomes, we stop forcing situations, we stop trying to manage every detail of life, and instead we walk forward in faith, knowing that the God who holds the universe is also holding our story, the same God who guided Abraham, the same God who fulfilled the promise, the same God who redeemed every twist and turn in scripture. That same God is guiding your life today. And when we trust that truth, we move one step closer to the peace and wholeness God desires for us. God bless you. Have an amazing day.