“If the God we serve exists, then he can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if he does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.”

Daniel 3:17-18 CSB

There are a lot of things out of our control in this world, but the one thing we can control is ourselves. I think this especially true in this cultural moment where a lot of what is happening in the world seems crazy, and it is, but rather than give up hope, we can control who we want to be in this moment. Do we want to make a difference where God has placed us? Then we must be active in how we love those in our circles.

I was thinking about this concept after reading through some of the icons in the old testament; from Joseph who chose to focus on God during temptations, David who chooses to remain humble under a tyrant king, and Shadrach Meshach, and Abednego who choose to remain faithful despite the threat of death if they didn’t worship false gods. These are strong examples for us now, to remain faithful to a loving God and choose to control our actions despite of what may be happening in our own lives and world.

You can’t control the world around you, but you can control who you choose to be in the world.  

We have had major snow and ice here in North Carolina the past couple of weeks, and with our two-year-old, we go through a lot of milk. In terrible timing, we needed milk and bread before the first major storm was coming. I braved the store and you could feel the tension, lots of people all trying to get what they needed and get out, but moving slow and dealing with little product. As I was there, I could only control myself, so I got a normal amount of what I needed and tried to be as respectful as possible, because that’s all I could control. Sure, it was longer and not as convenient as normal trips to the store, but I didn’t have to let the inconvenience control how I was in that situation.

Clearly, that isn’t the most major situation we can experience, but it’s a small-scale example of a larger way of life Christ calls us to live.

We are called to be light and love in a world that needs it, and only you can make the choice to be that light and love.

Here’s what this can look like. Maybe you need to apologize for a choice you made that hurt someone, something that someone may need to hear for closure. You can control that, believe me this is something that I have done and it is important to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do that. In a different but similar sense, someone may have hurt you in your life. You can’t control that, but you can control whether or not you allow that to have a foothold in your heart. Both take work, but both can be accomplished through the Holy Spirit empowering you.

The verse I opened this blog with shows three men that chose to remain rooted in their faith, knowing that they may die for it, and they chose to press in whether God saved them or not. That was a choice, they chose to remain faithful, faith no matter if they lived or died for it.

In our own faith journeys, we will experience hard things, we will sometimes be the cause or have the hardship thrust on us; there will be moments out of our control. BUT, how we choose to be in those moments makes the difference.  

I’ve been in a season of learning and growing, trusting God in an unknown season. I’ve been praying a lot and reading Scripture. I also see the world around us and my heart breaks for the evils that are happening in our country and many of it from those who claim to love the same God I do. So, what can I do? What can I control? Me. I can control who I choose to be.

You can too.

We can choose to reflect the true love of Christ.

We can make amends and begin again.

We can stand up for what is right.

We can trust in God’s plan.

We can’t control most things, but we can control who we choose to be.

I’ve written on this blog for well over a decade, originally starting it because I had messages to share and no other outlet to do it. As I look back, I see different versions of myself, still Joshua, but molded by God through every season, every high and low, every mistake and every success, not perfect but beautiful.

I know the same is true for you.

You are being molded by God every day, and every day, we each have a choice.

Who has God created me to be?

And who will I choose to be today?

You can choose to let what you can’t control, control you, or you can choose to be a child of God and remain faithful no matter what may come.

-Your pastor and friend, Joshua.

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About the Author: Joshua Thomas is a husband, father, and pastor doing what he can to love others the way Jesus did. You can find him reading a good book, sipping warm tea, taking pictures, or dreaming. He may not have it all figured out, but the journey is the best part. You can find him on the social media he uses Tik Tok, Bluesky and Instagram