CONTROL FREAKS ANONYMOUS
By Misty M. Beller
I guess this is time for
full disclosure—I'm a recovering member of Control Freaks Anonymous. Yes, I
tend to be a bit of a control freak when things are important to me. I'm not
OCD, mind you (meaning I don't compulsively obsess about every little detail),
but I need to feel like I'm in control of the big picture—the outcome. And if things
aren’t moving according to my plan, I can't rest until I've "fixed"
it.
But if you've ever read
a few verses in Proverbs Chapter 3, you probably know God calls us to trust in
His leading, not our own plans. There are literally hundreds of verses
throughout Scripture that talk about how He plans the very best for us.
I just finished writing
my third novel, and as I look back at the spiritual theme in each of the three
books, trusting God's plan for our lives is at the core of each. Wow. As you
can imagine, God has been working with me in this area for a long time. J
So why is it so hard for
me to release control fully to Him? That's a topic great minds have argued for
years. I won't pretend to know the answers or even what makes my own brain
tick, but I will say that God has had to dramatically reshape my life over the
last year to bring me to real trust. Through mind-boggling challenges, He
brought me to the point way that I had no control left. And not even enough
energy to care that I had lost control. And through that experience, I had to
rely on Him (if I didn't, I would have officially lost my mind).
And you know what? I'm now beginning to experience
the amazing benefits of His plan! My
debut novel The Lady and the Mountain Man
will release on Sept 23rd, and I'm already seeing God's hand over it in
humbling ways. The way the publishing has come about did not fit my plan at
all, but after I finally submitted to the Lord's direction, He is blessing the
outcome.
Can I share with you a scripture that has been one
of my lifelines over the past year? Habakkuk
3: 17-19 - Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; Though
the flock may be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls -
Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord
God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer's feet, and He will make me
walk on my high hills.
This
passage is really the core of the issue for me, and likely for most other
self-diagnosed control freaks. The focus has to shift from me to God. I will
rejoice in the Lord. He is my strength. Only then can I release my fears and
desire for control to Him. No matter what happens around me, I don't have to be
the one to fix it. I simply need to make sure I'm where He wants me to be.
That's hard to know for sure sometimes, but the closer I walk with Him, the
easier it is to tell. And when I am in His will, the outcome may not be what I
had planned, but He'll help me walk on my high hills. And I will joy in the God
of my salvation. J
Bio:
Misty Beller was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her Southern
roots run deep. Growing up, her family was close, and they continue to keep
that priority today. Her husband and two daughters now add another dimension to
her life, keeping her both grounded and crazy.
God has
placed a desire in Misty’s heart to combine her love for Christian fiction and
the simpler ranch life, writing historical novels that display God’s abundant
love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.
Writing is
a dream come true for Misty. Her family—both immediate and extended—is the
foundation that holds her secure in that dream.
The Lady and the Mountain Man back cover blurb:
Leah
Townsend, a recently orphaned heiress, flees Richmond after discovering her
fiancé’s plot to kill her after their wedding. She needs a safe place to hide,
and finds herself accepting a newspaper marriage proposal from a God-fearing
young rancher in the Montana Territory. But when Leah arrives at the mountain
ranch, she learns her intended husband was killed by a grizzly, leaving behind
a bitter older brother and a spunky younger sister.
When
Gideon Bryant finds a city girl standing in his log cabin, his first thought is
to send her back where she came from. He’s lost too many people to the wild
elements of these mountains––his parents, his wife, and now his brother. His
love for this untamed land lives on, but he’s determined not to open his heart
to another person.
But
when an accident forces Leah to stay at the ranch for seven more months, can
Gideon protect his heart from a love he doesn’t want? Has Leah really escaped
the men who seek her life?
Buy links:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
*****Note: I won't have the B&N link until approximately Sept 20th.
Sorry!
Contact links:
Website http://mistymbeller.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/MistyMBeller
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/MistyMBeller
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/MistyMBeller
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+MistyBeller
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