We are all tempted to manage the future. The boundaries between responsible planning and controlling behavior are difficult to discern; and most of us are tempted to account for as many variables as we possibly can — in providing for our own safety, our retirement, and (as they grow into adulthood) our children’s futures.
You see it in the struggles that parents have in crafting “adult” relationships with their maturing children and most of the conflicts that arise between them arise out of the failure to recognize those moments when the boundaries are crossed. You see it too in the anxiety that attends planning for retirement.
The difference between responsible planning and managing the future is easier to discern, however, if we grasp the fundamentally spiritual nature of the struggle. The key to recognizing the difference lies not in naming this or that action as one step too far, but in asking ourselves honest questions about the spiritual motivations that lie beneath the decisions we make:
Does the decision I am making arise out of the fundamental recognition that I am not God, but God’s child?
Does the decision I am making arise out of an awareness that I am a child among many children — each of whom possesses his or her own God-given right to make decisions for themselves?
Does the decision I am making arise out of the absolute limits that awareness imposes over time?
Finding spiritually healthy, honest answers to those questions can allow us to live with freedom in the present, instead of managing a future that is not ours to control.
You are speaking to me today! I’m a micromanager, and retirement plans are my downfall. I need to let go and let God. Unfortunately for me, easier said than done. Much prayer is needed for this! It’s like a step into space. Where will I land? Into the arms of the Lord! Excellent reminder for today. Thanks!!