"I'm Out of Control"

There's an interesting dynamic in chapter 1 between being out of control (and leaving God in control) and being in control.

Paul mentions that "in our hearts we felt the sentence of death" with the purpose of teaching them that they shouldn't rely on themselves, but rely on God (1.9). God is the Deliverer. God is the Focus of our Hope. We are helped by God through many prayers (1.11). This is hard for us, especially us males, who want to solve our own problems and refusing to ask for help. We don't ask for directions; we don't borrow when we can buy. And emotions are just a sign of a situation that needs to be conquered. We are the heroes of our lives. We are the men of steel. We are in control.

A little later, Paul writes this after describing how he planned to visit Corinth, but the plans changed: "I call God as my witness that it was in order to spare you that I did not return to Corinth...So I made up my mind that I would not make another painful visit to you" (1.23-2.1). Paul has just been rambling about letting your "yes be yes" and not be wishy-washy by saying "yes....no". You get a bit of a picture that some Corinthians didn't think highly of Paul because his plans changed. Maybe they thought, "Can we trust him? He can't even keep his itinerary intact. Is he man, in control, or some milquetoast pushed around by the wind?" Paul's saying he wanted to come but there were reasons for not visiting the Corinthians.

Who's in control here? Is Paul or is God?

It's not exclusionary. We can set plans, and pray about them and be open to God's leading to confirm those plans or change them. I know many people criticize some practices of making God bless our plans instead of seeking His will first and developing the plans from what we hear. However, Paul's practice seems to have shades of both. In any case, he's admitting, as he did in the first part of chapter 1, that he's not perfect and he'll be open and transparent about it.