{"id":414,"date":"2020-04-28T22:20:03","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T03:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/?p=414"},"modified":"2020-04-28T22:21:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T03:21:33","slug":"the-illusion-of-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/2020\/04\/28\/the-illusion-of-control\/","title":{"rendered":"The Illusion of Control"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u00a0I know that many of you, like us, are probably feeling like life seems out of control right now. \u00a0We don’t know what to expect in the future, we can’t do everything we want to do, and we face the possibility of harm every time we step out of our front doors. \u00a0It seems like everything is different. \u00a0However, in many ways, it is the same as it always has been. \u00a0We have never known what the future holds, we were never able to do all we wanted to do, and we always could die at any moment. \u00a0A global pandemic only reveals the truth that was already there- we are not in control, and that terrifies us.

This idea of control is central to the gospel. \u00a0Every human being wants to\u00a0do\u00a0<\/em>something, to earn his or her salvation, to be good enough, but the gospel tells us that we can’t- there’s nothing we can do. \u00a0That takes some humility to accept, but it is also the most freeing truth in existence. \u00a0Jesus paid it all. \u00a0We have nothing to do but to accept His gift, and rest in the arms of the One who is in control.

Jesus understands our worry, and in Matthew 6 He has some thoughts for us, “Do not worry about your life… Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well.” \u00a0I love that Jesus not only tells us not to worry, but tells us what we should be focusing on, his kingdom (witnessing to others), and his righteousness (becoming more like Jesus). \u00a0Guess what? \u00a0Those are things we can be doing no matter what there is to be afraid of.

If you have not given Christ the throne of your life, do it. \u00a0You are NOT in control anyway, but He is, and with Him, your eternity is sure. \u00a0If you are a believer, trust Him. \u00a0He is good. \u00a0His ways are better, even when it doesn’t feel like it. \u00a0And focus on what you\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0control- seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.

Honestly, I am so thankful that I am not in control, because I know that God can do things so much better than I could ever dream, and He sees things from an eternal perspective. \u00a0I once flew in a small plane that my cousin was piloting. \u00a0She said that I could take control for a minute, which sounds cool, but in reality, I was very nervous. \u00a0It was scary. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because I knew that I was much safer when she was in control. \u00a0She knew what she was doing, she loves me, and I could trust her. \u00a0It’s the same with God, so why am I always trying to grab the controls?


We are thinking of all of you and praying for you. \u00a0We are thankful for your continued support even as we know things may be hard for you as well. \u00a0We are doing fine. \u00a0We are still at our mission center supporting other missionaries how we can. \u00a0Our school is closed, so Karissa is homeschooling. \u00a0Matt is part of the field’s Crisis Management Team, which works together to deal with issues related to the Coronavirus, and to make plans for the future. \u00a0He is doing this in addition to his regular housing job, so things are quite busy in our family. \u00a0We are so thankful to be part of such a committed team of people.

Till all know,
Matt, Karissa, Ty, and Wyck

Praise God:
– We can continue to serve the team in PNG
– We are safe and healthy
– God continues to provide for our needs
– He uses all things for our good and His glory

Please Pray:
– For wisdom for Matt as he serves on the CMT
– For patience for Karissa as she homeschools
– For grace for Ty and Wyck as they deal with big changes in their lives
– For safety, peace, and balance for our family
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Here’s a new thing that we are going to do.  Since we are here at the center supporting tribal church planting, we thought that each month we would share about one of the the tribal works we are supporting.  This month please pray for the Yembi Yembi work.  The Yembi Yembi church was born in 2008, and the missionaries who worked there are currently serving them while living on the center (and we taught their kids!).  Since then, they have had struggles with sin and division, but lately God has really been working in the church.  Pray for them, especially for their leaders (pictured above), that they will seek unity and discipleship.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0I know that many of you, like us, are probably feeling like life seems out of control right now. \u00a0We don’t know what to expect in the future, we can’t do everything we want to do, and we face the possibility of harm every time we step out of our front doors. \u00a0It seems like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1074,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-uncategorized","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1074"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ethnos360.org\/matt-long\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}