A presenter at a recent conference stated that civil
engineers are typically leaders, assertive, take-charge kind of people. She also said that most of us are somewhere
on the autism spectrum. I couldn’t
argue. I would add that many of us are control freaks.
In many ways, these characteristics are what make us good at
our jobs. Attention to detail, strategic
planning, problem solving, ability to analyze and deal with complex problems,
and the compulsion to ensure that work is done right, are all critical to ensuring
that the infrastructure civilization depends on is reliable, safe and
affordable.
The policy in my organization is that no publication, design
or drawing goes out until it is reviewed by several people. We do this because we know that mistakes can
happen, and the consequences of mistakes can be expensive and deadly. We trust each other, but we also question and
verify. Striving to be in control of
everything in our purview is a good thing.
But…
Jesus calls his disciples to trust Him. We are to allow him to govern every detail of
our lives. Everything has to be submitted
to his authority. But, God created me and imbued me
with my character and skills. He made me
a control freak. Do you see the tension
here?
Trusting is also hard because He does not often tell us what
the plan is, so we are flying blind through both bad times and good.
To make it all the more complicated, we are also told that
we can’t sit back on a recliner and do nothing.
While giving control to God, we are still required to live our lives,
make decisions, and do good things. We
have to actively love. We are not permitted
to allow life to drift past us. Passive
fatalism and idleness are not God's intent.
So where do we go with this? Are we to be two people, one in control at work and another letting it
all go at home? Sounds dangerous.
To start, we have to absorb that God is infallible, so we
don’t need to verify His work. He is also
good, in fact, He defines what is good.
He is all-powerful, meaning He can do whatever He wants. He also loves everyone, including me, more
than we can imagine. This is proven by
his incarnation, death and resurrection.
We are able then, to let go the things that we can’t influence
to this sovereign, loving, intimate God, while we have to work on the things we can. Sounds trite,
but it is true. The real challenge is knowing where the boundary is between these
two. We control freaks will tend to bias
toward interfering in things we shouldn’t.
So, please be kind to, and pray for, us while we wrestle with
finding the balance between delegation and action.
