Life After Letting Go
Proverbs 3:5–6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.”
If you had asked me a few years ago what surrender looked like, I probably would have given you a lyric or a sermon point. I might have even sung about it on stage. But life has a way of taking your songs and asking if you actually believe them.
We were in the middle of another packed tour—city after city, set list after set list. People were singing along. Ministry was happening. On the outside, everything looked like it was working. But on the inside, I was struggling to catch my breath.
I was missing dinners. Bedtime stories. The small in-between moments at home that no one claps for, but that matter more than anything. One night, sitting alone in a venue parking lot, I remember thinking—not in a dramatic way, but in a soul-deep way—What am I even doing?
I had given so much of myself to ministry, but somewhere along the way, I stopped asking if it was still what God wanted—or if I had just forgotten how to stop.
That night marked the beginning of surrender.
I sat with the guys in the band and said, “I think we need to step back from touring.”
It hurt to say. But it opened the door to healing. We took time off. We made space for our families. And in that space, the lyrics to our song “Control” came to me:
“Oh how You love me
Somehow that frees me
To open my hands up
And give You control
I give You control”
When we released it, we started receiving letters—people telling us about the things they were finally letting go of. Control of their children’s futures. Control of broken marriages. Control of their image. The #ControlCampaign became more than a hashtag. It became a shared sigh of relief.
And that is what I never saw coming: the rest. The clarity. The peace that comes when you stop reaching for everything and hand back to God what was His in the first place.
So if your heart feels overwhelmed and stretched thin, maybe the way forward is not to try harder. Maybe it is to trust deeper. Surrender is not failure. It is where freedom starts.
— Mike Donehey
Control (Somehow You Want Me)
Here I am, all my intentions
All my obsessions, I wanna lay them all down
In Your hands
Only Your love is vital
Though I’m not entitled
Still You call me Your child
God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To take my hands off of my life and the way it should go
Oh, God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To open my hands up and give You control
I give You control
I’ve had plans shattered and broken
Things I have hoped in, fall through my hands
You have plans to redeem and restore me
You’re behind and before me
Oh, help me believe
God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To take my hands off of my life and the way it should go
Oh, God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To open my hands up and give You control
You want me, somehow You want me
The King of Heaven wants me
So this world has lost its grip on me(Repeat)
God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To take my hands off of my life and the way it should go
Oh, God, You don’t need me, but somehow You want me
Oh, how You love me, somehow that frees me
To open my hands up and give You control
I give You control
You want me, somehow You want me
The King of Heaven wants me
So this world has lost its grip on me
(Written by: Mike Donehey, Jason Ingram, Matt Bronleewe)
