Christmas 2018 at Life.Church - Travel Light, Part 4 w/ Craig Groeschel (Letting Go of Control)

Let It Be: Surrendering Control to God

Scripture References

• Luke 1
• 1 Peter 5:7

Overview

Control feels safer than surrender, yet real peace is found on the other side of letting go. Working from Luke 1, Pastor Craig showed how Mary moved from “confused and disturbed” to “let it be,” modeling a life released into God’s hands. We, too, cannot always change our circumstances, people, or future, but we can always choose to surrender—daily, fully, and trustingly—and discover God’s faithfulness each time we do.

Main Points

1. We All Have Control Issues

• Participation poll: most of the room admitted there is at least one area they try to run.
• Signs of a controller: micromanaging kids, correcting a spouse’s dishwasher pattern, curating social media images.
  Illustration: “Some of you are wound so tight you make coffee nervous.”
• Control/fear cycle: the more we fear losing control, the harder we try to seize it.

2. Mary: Ordinary Teen, Extraordinary Choice

• Angelic announcement interrupted her wedding plans and life dreams.
• Scripture notes she was “confused and disturbed,” yet she answered,

  “I am the Lord’s servant… let it be to me according to your word.”

• Decision point: her dreams vs. God’s destiny; her plan vs. God’s purpose; her control vs. God’s calling.

3. Big Idea

“You don’t always have the power to control, but you do always have the power to surrender.”

• Control is rooted in a lack of faith—over-estimating our power and under-estimating God’s.
• There is no such thing as partial surrender; it is all or nothing.

4. The Fruit of Surrender: Mary’s Ongoing Story

• Each fresh release led to new evidence of God’s faithfulness:
  • Joseph’s confirming dream.
  • Provision in Bethlehem and Egypt.
  • Wise men’s gifts funding life on the run.
  • Ultimate trust at the Cross.
• Surrender is not a one-time event but a daily posture.

5. Jesus: The Ultimate “Let It Be”

• In Gethsemane He echoed His mother’s words, submitting to the Father’s will.
• On the cross He “committed His spirit,” proving God can do more through surrender than we can through control.

6. Practicing Surrender Today

• Congregation invited to write a specific burden on paper and drop it in the offering as an act of casting cares (1 Peter 5:7).
• Pastor’s personal limit: he cannot make anyone surrender; only the Holy Spirit can move a heart.

Key Truths

• Control is an illusion that breeds fear; surrender breeds peace.
• God’s purpose often disrupts our carefully scripted plans.
• Faith means trusting God’s character when we cannot trace His plan.
• Partial surrender is disobedience dressed up as wisdom.
• God consistently proves more faithful with what we release than we ever were while gripping it.

Response

• Identify one area you’re clinging to and name it plainly.
• Write the burden down and physically hand it over to God (symbolic acts help the heart).
• Pray daily: “Father, let Your will, not mine, be done.”
• Replace controlling actions with trusting actions—listen, wait, and obey.
• Celebrate each glimpse of God’s faithfulness as confirmation to keep surrendering.

Closing

Mary’s story reminds us that confusion and calling can coexist. The angel’s assurance, “The Lord is with you,” is also ours. Whatever you wrote on that paper, God can handle; His hands are stronger than yours. Trade control for surrender and watch Him work.

“Let it be to me according to Your word.”

Prayer

The congregation prayed together, asking God to forgive sins, fill them with His Spirit, and take first place in every area of life—a collective act of full surrender.