Coming Home - a Devotional for the Prodigal HeartSample

DAY TWO"

The Illusion of Control

Scripture Focus:
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” — Isaiah 43:18–19 (NIV)
“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)
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” — Psalm 55:22 (NIV)

Devotional:
There’s something oddly comforting about believing you’re in control. I used to cling to it like it was a life preserver—micromanaging the details of my life, obsessing over how others perceived me, clenching my future in a death grip I called “responsibility.” But if I’m honest, all that control was just a dressed-up form of fear.

I was afraid of the unknown. Afraid of failure. Afraid of what would happen if I loosened my grip and things fell apart.

The problem? They fell apart anyway.

It turns out, control is a terrible substitute for trust. It exhausts you. It isolates you. And it delays the healing God wants to bring—not because He isn’t willing, but because He won’t force His way into hands that won’t open.

I think of Moses standing at the edge of the Red Sea in Exodus 14. Pharaoh’s army was barreling down behind him, the sea was in front of him, and the Israelites were in full panic mode. Moses had no plan. No map. No human way forward. And do you know what God told him?

“Be still.”

The sea didn’t part because Moses controlled the moment. It parted because he surrendered it.

So often, we miss the miracle because we’re trying to manage the moment. We think we have to be the savior, the strategist, the strong one. But God doesn’t need us to be strong—He wants us to be surrendered.

Isaiah 43 reminds us that God is doing a new thing. Not a slightly improved version of our plan. Not a patched-up rerun. Something new. But in order to receive it, we have to let go of the old—old expectations, old coping mechanisms, old versions of ourselves that were never built to carry this kind of calling.

What if the unraveling in your life isn’t punishment—it’s pruning? What if the thing you’re trying to control is the very thing God is trying to free you from?

You can’t receive new life with clenched fists. You have to open your hands.

Takeaway:
Letting go isn’t failure—it’s faith. God can do more with your surrender than you can do with your strategy.

Prayer:
God, I confess that I’ve clung too tightly to things that You never asked me to carry. I’ve tried to plan and force and fix my way forward, but I’m tired. I want to make room for what You’re doing—not just what I had in mind. Help me release control and trust that Your way really is better. Soften my grip and increase my faith.

Journal Prompt:
Where in your life are you trying to control the outcome out of fear?

Write down what it would look like to release that area to God.

What scares you about surrender? What excites you?