Every day, you have to decide who’s going to be in control of your life: you or God.

That choice is a battle. There are things in your life that you want to control. You want to make your own rules. But relieving stress always starts with letting God be God. It starts with saying, “God, only you can control the things that are out of control in my life.”Psalm 46:10 says, “Let go of your concerns! Then you will know that I am God. I rule the nations. I rule the earth” (GW). 

I don’t know what you’re going to face this week. You don’t, either. But I can already tell you what God wants you to do: Let go, and know. Let go of control, and know that God is in control. Let go, and know! This is the first step to peace in your life.

Whenever we face out-of-control situations, we tend to go to one of two extremes. For some people, the more out-of-control life gets, the harder they try to control it. Some people do the exact opposite: They just give up! They have a pity party and invite themselves to it.

Both of those reactions to stress are foolish. They don’t work. Instead of being a victim or becoming hyper controlling, you need to surrender your control to God.

The number one reason you’re under stress is because you’re in conflict with God. You’re trying to control things that only God can control. The more you do it, the more you’re trying to play God, and that puts you in opposition to God. Not only are you going to lose that conflict, but you’re also going to be tired.

Millions of people pray the Serenity Prayer, which is based on the Lord’s Prayer, but most have never read the last part of the prayer: “Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as the pathway to peace; taking as Jesus did this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his will, so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with him forever in the next. Amen.”

That’s where the power is! There is power when you surrender to God the very things you’ve been trying to take control of from him.