Pundayschool · Episode 29 companion
The Remote Control: a devotional for anyone still holding on
A quick devotional for busy people: 3 to 5 minutes, start to finish. Read it or listen to it, whichever fits your morning: a coffee break, a commute, or the two minutes before the rest of the house wakes up. When you reach the bottom, you have done today's devotional.
Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps." It means we are free to make plans, but God is the one who decides how the story actually unfolds, and He can be trusted with that. This devotional, from Pundayschool Episode 29, "The Remote Control," pictures surrender as handing God the TV remote of our life, then honestly admits how fast we grab it back when things get scary. The invitation is simple: keep planning, stop clutching, and let God set the steps.
Press play: watch the short
"The Remote Control" is on its way to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook at @pundayschool. Check back soon, or follow along there so you do not miss it.
Channel one: reading Proverbs 16:9
"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps."
Proverbs 16:9, NIV
Prefer to listen?
Proverbs 16:9, read aloud in the King James Version. About 5 seconds.
There is a certain kind of prayer most of us have prayed on a sofa in the evening. The big one. "God, You take the lead. You are in charge now. I surrender everything."
And we mean it. That is the strange part. Nobody fakes that prayer. In the moment, our hands are genuinely open.
In our episode, the mascot sets an imaginary remote down on the far cushion. Out of reach. Done. Surrendered.
It lasts about three minutes.
Because then the week does what weeks do. The plot turns. A text comes in. A bill arrives. A quiet worry gets loud. And our hand starts creeping back across the cushions before we have even noticed it moved.
We rarely grab control back with an announcement. We do it in small, reasonable looking reaches. We try to pause the scary parts. We try to fast-forward through the waiting seasons, which are somehow boring and terrifying at the same time. We even try to look up the ending, checking and rechecking, because knowing feels safer than trusting.
Here is the line worth being honest about: "Lord, You can have the remote. But maybe I should just hold it."
That is where most of us actually live. Not in rebellion. In holding. Sincere surrender, plus a backup grip.
Proverbs 16:9 says, "In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps."
Notice it does not scold us for planning. Planning is human, and Proverbs elsewhere calls it wise. The verse simply tells us where our job ends. We sketch the course. God sets the actual steps. We hold the map. He holds the remote.
And that is not a threat. It is a relief. The One holding it is not careless or distracted. He is not making it up as He goes. He knows what the scary scene is for. He knows how long the slow season needs to be. He has never once dropped the remote.
He has never once dropped the remote.
Hit pause: honest questions
So what do we do with our creeping hands? Not shame. Shame just makes us grip harder. Just three quiet questions, between us and God.
- What is the one thing you keep grabbing back from God, the situation your hand keeps creeping toward? Can you name it out loud, in plain words?
- Which button do you personally reach for first: pausing the scary part, fast-forwarding the waiting, or looking up the ending? What is that reach actually trying to protect you from?
- Is there a difference, for you, between planning your course and clutching it? How can you tell which one you are doing this week?
Set it down: a short prayer
Pray it slowly, in these words or your own.
God, You hold this one. The thing my hand keeps sliding back toward, the plan I keep taking back out of Your hands, I put it down again. Not because I am done needing to, but because You have never once dropped the remote. Thank You that I can plan my course and still trust You with my steps. When my hand starts creeping again today, meet me there, and let me pray this same small prayer again. Amen.
Press play again: one step for today
The episode has not really ended. There is a whole rest of your week today, and it needs exactly one thing from you.
Name one thing you keep grabbing back, and say the little prayer over it. Not once. Every time your hand slides toward it. Ten times today if needed. God is not annoyed by the repeats. Surrender is not a one time ceremony, it is the habit of putting the thing down again.
This week, when the plot turns, let the scene play. Sit through the part you cannot skip. Wait through the part you cannot fast-forward. And leave the remote where you put it, on the table, in better hands than yours.
The end
That is the whole thing. No sign up, no series to binge. Just an evening, a sofa, and a remote you are finally allowed to put down.
More questions
What does Proverbs 16:9 mean?
It means we make plans in our hearts, and that is fine, but God is the one who directs how the journey actually goes. The verse is not against planning. It is against pretending we control outcomes. The comfort is that the One directing our steps is good.
Is it wrong to make plans if God establishes our steps?
No. Proverbs praises careful planning in other places, like Proverbs 21:5. The problem is clutching, when our plans become something we defend against God instead of offer to Him. Plan the course, and let Him set the steps.
How do I stop trying to control everything?
Start smaller than everything. Pick the one thing you grab back the most, and pray one short sentence every time you notice your grip: "God, You hold this one." Control fades the same way it grew, one small reach at a time.
Why do I keep taking back what I surrendered to God?
Because surrender is a habit, not a ceremony. Fear makes our hands move automatically, and that does not make your first prayer fake. Just put the thing down again. God is not counting how many tries it takes.
Where can I watch The Remote Control?
Right at the top of this page once it is live, or on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook at @pundayschool.