Hope Yields Control
Last night, I got to be a part of planning an event where the guest speaker was Andy Andrews. One of the many things Andy talked about was the connection between hope and control. When he said it, in my mind I said, “I wonder where he is going with this?” My grandsons were with me, and I wanted to know what they thought about it. If you don’t know who Andy is…please do a quick Google search to see the impact he has and is making in many people’s lives. Andy was about the age of my grandson when his life fell apart.
“What are your thoughts connecting hope and control?” I asked Rohan. “I have lots of thoughts, but I will share just a few.” He continued, “Most of what goes on around us, what happens to us, like bad weather, or other people’s choices that affect us, we can’t do anything about. I mean, we can’t control the weather or the choices people make. We may not like the effects, and we often allow this to throw us into making choices based on our circumstances. We take on a victim mentality that affects everything we do and say. If we don’t change, we lose hope and inevitably lose control.”
“Certainly, many people wear that victim cloak, and they want you to know it. What do you think is the reason?” I asked. “Two things I see, and there may be more. First, people blame their circumstances or others, and second, that leads them to shirking responsibility for their words and actions,” he said emphatically. Probing deeper, I asked, “Ok, true, but we are surrounded by others and circumstances, so what or who is the answer?”
Rohan leaned closer in and responded. “Right, it is a who and a what. The “who” is Jesus. What is we must take responsibility for our part. We can only change ourselves. I hear people say they want more self-control, but then they don’t take responsibility for doing anything to gain it. When we control ourselves through Christ, we give Him permission to fix our circumstances and help us do our part.” I commented, “Yes, I have said God is God despite the circumstances, and He gives us the faith to overcome. We can fight from a place of victory. We are not a victim.”
It became clear to me that Rohan had added more nuggets to his wisdom treasure chest about hope, control, and responsibility. Hope remains, but God is eternal. We can take control of our lives and the direction it is going when we learn to control ourselves through the power of God. And no matter how much we want to or how hard we try, we cannot control others.
So our takeaway today is you don’t have to ever lose hope because God is in control and will help you gain self-control by taking responsibility for your words and actions. And as Andy would say….the buck stops here!
Until next time, remember the matter of the heart is the heart of the matter.
Dr. Michele Morgan
November 2, 2025
