I thought holding everything together was the key to happiness, until I realized God had something better in mind. Control. Planning. Perfecting. If you’re anything like me, you’ve clung tightly to life like a checklist, believing that if you just manage everything well enough, you’ll finally feel whole and fix what is broken. The truth is, even when things look “perfect” on the outside, you can still feel hollow, restless, and unsatisfied on the inside.

This week I made the mistake of trying to take a knife to a gunfight. The Lord had to remind me of the unseen spiritual battle we are engaged in as we live with addiction or other strongholds in our families. We fight and plead and beg and threaten as we try to fight this very spiritual battle with physical weapons. I learned when it comes to fighting for my family, I had to choose my battles wisely.

"You, LORD, are my lamp; the LORD turns my darkness into light." 2 Samuel 22:29 NIV I remember the total darkness I lived in when my...