Recently I walked into my local hospital to visit a sick friend. He had been admitted to a room on the third floor. I made my way across the lobby to the elevators, stepped up to the doorway and mashed the button to summon one of the cars. The button lit up with a bright, white glow. I stepped back and waited for the elevator to arrive.
A few seconds later, a lady whom I did not know walked up next to me. I guessed her to be middle aged, maybe around fifty years old. She didn’t speak a word, but she stared at that elevator button, still shining brightly. Then she looked at me. Then again at the button, and then again at me. I’ll bet you can guess what she did next.
That’s right. She walked up to that button and mashed it. Even though it had clearly already been pushed. I wasn’t sure whether I should feel insulted or amused.
Why would she do that?
The answer is control. She had a need. She needed an elevator, and something inside of her simply couldn’t trust me to meet the need for her. She had to take control of the situation.
Control issues
We all deal with that issue. Control of our lives is of utmost importance. Instinctively, we want control over everything we do, and everything others can do to us. Think about it. All of the most contentious political issues boil down to control, personal versus government. The right to buy a gun, abortion, vaccinations, taxation and so on.
If that need for control is so strong it affects a small thing, like waiting for an elevator, imagine what a challenge it is to give away control of our very lives to Jesus Christ! To put Him behind the wheel and let Him drive us down paths we have never seen before, never expected, and fear we cannot handle.
Yet that is exactly what the Bible tells us we must do. There’s a verse in the sixth chapter of Romans that states “When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.” That sums it up pretty well. We want the freedom to navigate the world around us on our own terms, even though that world is increasingly dark. We think we can handle it. It’s difficult if not a bit scary to turn our fate over to God. We’d rather push the elevator button ourselves.
Maybe there’s a better way to look at it. Consider that, by choosing to give your life to Jesus, you are actually exercising the ultimate act of self-determination. It’s you choosing salvation. It’s you choosing to rise to heaven.
Now that’s an elevator worth waiting for.
EDITOR’S NOTE — Ken Lass is a familiar face to Central Alabamians, having been a television news and sports anchor in Birmingham for more than 30 years. Currently, he is an award-winning columnist for several local and national publications and websites. Ken and his wife, Sharon, live in Trussville, where he serves as a deacon at First Baptist Church Trussville. He is also a member of the board of directors of Pathways Professional Counseling, a sister ministry of Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries that offers Christ-centered counseling throughout Alabama.
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