A Message Straight from God

As I was sitting in church today, I had to smile a number of times. Though I was spoken to through the message, for certain, I could actually feel God's words speaking directly to Dan sitting next to me. It was pure last-minute drudgery that got Dan to go to church to begin with on his only day off but it was apparent to me (quite quickly) that God was speaking directly to him about the changes that need to take place in our lives and how things have worked in the past, are working right now, and are supposed to work in the future. I just kept smiling and it gave me immense joy for this purpose alone.
On top of this, the message was amazing. The basis of the message was about how it is impossible for us to achieve goals to better ourselves strictly on our own accord. We can grit our teeth to make it to a small goal, but in reality the big, life-changing goals are only achievable through the Holy Spirit and through His guiding. He can give you the patience and perseverance to get through that rough time. He can give you the love to deal with someone that is making you crazy (parents of teenagers come to mind.) He can give you joy in times when you're feeling completely down and depressed. He can give you kindness to deal with that person who intentionally drives you bananas. He can give you self-control to break that addiction. He can help you to achieve absolutely anything that You hand over to him. The biggest thing that kept echoing in my heart is the following: He can help you through anything but YOU HAVE TO GIVE UP THAT CONTROL.
Control is difficult for me to give up, mostly because I have so little control over the situations in my life. I have come to accept the areas of my life that I have no control over and, although they make me crazy, they are definitely what they are. I've accepted that I can't change them. The few small areas that I feel I have control over are the areas I struggle to let go. I don't want to let go of all control because it leaves me vulnerable and that scares me. Like a child who holds desperately to their toy when someone tries to take it away at bedtime, I am grasping with everything within me to let go of the areas that I'm controlling right now. Logically, in my heart of hearts, I know that giving up control is going to result in something bigger and better than I could ever imagine. That being said, logic doesn't overcome fear without alot of deep breaths and encouragement on my part.
One of many prayers has become to let go...to allow me to let go of the control over the situations that I'm holding onto. I pray that God opens my heart to accept His control in these areas and gives me not only peace but JOY in watching the Spirit change these situations into something wonderful.