Sharing Stories – Does God Control Us?

It was nighttime, and Kali had just gone to bed. I went upstairs to kiss her goodnight and lay with her for just a moment.  She said, “My belly hurts.” I placed my hand on her belly and prayed, “Oh God, help Kali’s belly feel better.” And this is the conversation that followed,

Kali: Does God really heal us?

Me: Yes. God created our bodies to heal themselves. And sometimes, when they don’t heal themselves,  God uses other ways to heal us like medicine,  the help of others, and sometimes God just says a word, and it’s done!

Kali: Does God control us?

Me: What do you mean by “control us”?

Kali: Like does God tell us what to think, what to say, and what to do?

Me: Wow, what a great question! I don’t know if this answers your question, but maybe this can help.

I don’t see God controlling us as much as I see us having a connection to God, a connection that helps us live better in this world. When we are connected to God, we can better hear and understand what God wants to say to us or show us.

Children have a deep connection with God when they are young. They can sense God in ways that are hard for adults to understand.  The older we get, the more we learn about the world around us, and we become more distracted. God is never distracted.  It’s us who tend to wander and disconnect from God.

It’s like when you go to basketball practice.  You have a coach and several players on the team. You run up and down the court watching the ball and listening to your coach. Your coach is there to help you see what you can’t see and to give you instructions because you are still learning the game. The coach tells you who to throw it to and where to run. He doesn’t control you, but you know listening to him is important.  Then you have that one player on your team who is running down the court with the team, and he sees his momma on the sidelines.  Immediately, he leaves the court and runs to his momma. He got distracted! He lost connection with the coach and the team. Now, he has to get back into the game and figure out where he is supposed to be.

This is similar to getting distracted from God. There are many things in life that can and will distract us from God, but there is always a way back. When you see me sitting in silence, I am reconnecting with God. I’m trying to stop being distracted, even if it’s for a few minutes. There are many ways to pray and reconnect with God. The biggest part is realizing we are distracted. God never stops connecting with us. Like the coach who calls out to the player to return to the team after he gets distracted,  God always calls us back!

Kali: Yeah, like my friend who ran out the door tonight at basketball practice! He got distracted and ran out the door for no reason. And the coach had to go get him and tell him to come back in!

I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying, for he speaks peace to his faithful people.

Psalm 85:8a

Me: Yes! It’s like that.❤️