Giving up control of your life to God

Sometimes life seems out of control. Life can be a lot to handle, especially when we're trying to control it.

One of the most liberating truths, though, is that God has everything under control. When we give up control over our lives to our Father, the fight ends.

When we take all the pieces we try to hold together and place it all in our Father's hands, the power struggle is over, trying to fend for ourselves to make everything OK is through, and our hearts and lives are covered in a peace that surpasses human understanding -- a peace that comes from the very heart of the God who has everything under control and who loves you.

The song "Your Hands" by JJ Heller has been running in and out of my heart and mind the past few days. My favorite line says, "Your hands that shaped the world are holding me, they hold me still."

I love the peace and assurance that line paints, that this God who is so powerful and so infinite and so big has the tenderness to hold me in his hands and to care about my life that means so much to him. He is constant, and that is what I need.

I think we are afraid of God having complete control of our lives because we misunderstand who God is.

We confuse the characteristics of the enemy with the characteristics of our God. We think that God wants to harm us, make our lives ones of misery, and that he is not trustworthy. We doubt his perfect love for us, and we doubt that he can take care of everything in a way that will bring about good.

These thoughts of fear and doubt are lies. Our God is a God who is so capable and so true to us. The enemy hates us, but our God is in love with our very souls.

Our Father does nothing to harm us, and does not cause bad things to happen in our lives. He takes situations filled with the blackest black and makes them pure, holy and unblemished. He holds situations filled with questions and confusion so that we are free to lean against him. Into our lives that feel like we're trying to keep things together in vain, he brings peace.

God holds everything in this universe in his hands, and he sees us and loves us with a love that knows every hair on our heads and that knit us together in our mother's womb.

He has already been victorious in every battle, is only good, and knows what is happening in our lives and hearts as well as others' lives and hearts. He knows the plans of hope he has for our future, too.

His hands made this universe and fashioned every priceless piece of you. They made today, they'll make tomorrow, and they are big and strong and soft and tender. And he has you.

Mia Pohlman is a Perryville, Mo., native studying at Truman State University. She loves performing, God and the color purple -- not necessarily in that order.