Jasper County Commission issues county wide burn ban

 

Missouri redistricting referendum fight reaches Supreme Court

By Rudi Keller, 

Missouri Independent

When the Missouri Supreme Court considers Wednesday whether voters can force a referendum on congressional redistricting, the judges will confront a constitutional question the court has never squarely answered.

But decades of Missouri Supreme Court decisions offer clues about how the judges may approach it.

A recent analysis of 37 state Supreme Court cases since the start of 2000 found the court looked to precedent as the major or controlling factor in 15, the meaning of the text of the constitution in 10 and a mixture of methods in another 12.

If the court maintains that record, it would be reasonable for it to find that the referendum power applies to congressional redistricting, said Michael Smith, associate professor of law at the University of Oklahoma and author of “Missouri’s Law of Constitutional Interpretation.”

“If the Supreme Court reads the referendum provision in context, they will see that there are these other provisions emphasizing the inherent power of the people,” Smith said. “That provides strong textual support to a liberal and broad referendum power by the people.”

Smith analyzed 105 cases from the earliest years of the Missouri Supreme Court to the present in his paper, published last year by the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law Review. Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green’s ruling that kept the referendum off the Nov. 3 ballot used a method of constitutional interpretation called structuralism that has not played a dominant role in recent decisions, Smith said.

“There’s an absence of common law reasoning” in Green’s decision, Smith said in an interview Monday with The Independent. “That absence is a little bit glaring, given the Missouri Supreme Court’s pretty consistent treatment of cases that implicate direct democratic power. This case really comes down to the scope of the referendum provision, which implicates how much power the people directly have over the legislature.”

On Wednesday, Chuck Hatfield, attorney for a political action committee called People Not Politicians, will argue that the text of the referendum provision, which says “any act” of the General Assembly is subject to a petition-initiated vote, includes redistricting. It will be one of three cases Hatfield will argue that day that will finalize the statewide November ballot.

Two cases are about the referendum. Along with the question of whether it will be on the ballot, the court will also hear a case over when it is legal to begin collecting signatures to qualify a referendum.

The third case is about whether an unrelated constitutional amendment proposed by initiative will be on the ballot. Like the referendum, Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ determined the proposal was unconstitutional.

Questions settled

The two redistricting cases will complete the high court’s reinterpretation of the referendum power and the legislature’s authority to revise congressional maps at any time. So far, Republicans pushing for the gerrymandered map designed to win the 5th District for their party have prevailed in every case.

The Supreme Court has upheld Gov. Mike Kehoe’s power to call the legislature into special session; ruled the Constitution allowed redistricting absent a new census report; and decided that Hoskins was correct to allow the redistricting law to take effect while signatures were being verified.

In those cases, the court relied on the meaning it found in the text of the Constitution. The governor decides when “extraordinary occasions” require the legislature to be convened and because there is no language prohibiting a new redistricting plan, it is allowed, the court ruled earlier this year.

Signature verification is necessary to determine if a referendum petition is “legal, sufficient and timely,” the court found in a May decision allowing the map to take effect.

Questions remaining

In filings ahead of oral arguments, attorneys seeking to overturn Hoskins’ decision that the two measures were “insufficient” contend he far exceeded his authority and considered issues that are not within the scope of his review.

Hoskins made his decision, Hatfield wrote, because he knows Republicans would lose a vote on the redistricting plan.

“Stripped of paper-thin legal dressing, the secretary and intervenors’ contention is simply that they do not like the consequences of applying the referendum to redistricting bills, so it must be illegal,” Hatfield wrote.

In the state’s filing, Lou Capozzi, state solicitor general, argues that requiring a referendum would invalidate the results of the Aug. 4 primary election. If a referendum is placed on the ballot, the law it puts before voters is not in effect until approved. That would mean the congressional map used in the primary would not be used in November. 

That would create chaos for the political parties and candidates, Capozzi wrote, and force many voters to choose from candidates they did not have a role in selecting. Doing so would violate the U.S. Constitution and federal law, he wrote.  

The case before the court does not challenge the validity of the primary or require the candidates to be disqualified, Hatfield wrote. If implementing the text of the referendum provision creates problems, he said, it is because Hoskins waited until the last possible date to deny the referendum a spot on the ballot.

“But those hypothetical problems are not a reason to ignore the law and are extremely overblown,” Hatfield wrote.

The arguments

Hatfield will lean heavily on the text of the Missouri Constitution, pre-argument filings show. There is nothing prohibiting a referendum on redistricting, the filings state, so it is allowed.

Missouri held a referendum on redistricting in 1922, 14 years after the referendum power was added to the Constitution. That shows the intent of the drafters to allow such votes, Hatfield wrote, because no prohibition was added when the Constitution was revised in 1945.

“Because the referendum had been successfully used on a congressional redistricting bill in 1922, the framers were aware it might happen again — yet they did not address that possibility,” Hatfield wrote. “It is not for the courts to second-guess that choice.”

Capozzi wrote that because the map was used for the primary election, it is too late to change now. 

And, he wrote, the federal constitution’s provisions directing state legislatures to set the boundaries of congressional districts puts the plan beyond the reach of a referendum.

The most important question this week, constitutional law attorneys told The Independent, is whether the people are a branch of government or whether they are the government.

In Green’s decision, Smith said, the judge adopted the argument pressed by Republican Party attorneys that the federal Constitution, by directing legislatures to set district lines, shields those plans from review by other branches of the government.

“There’s a fair amount of analysis that really applies the logic of separation of powers, treating the people as though they were another branch of government, which I think is just generally not how separation of powers doctrine works,” Smith said.

Allen Rostron, associate dean of law at UMKC, said Republican arguments echo the case where the U.S. Supreme Court rejected what is called the “independent legislature theory” that redistricting plans are not subject to court review.

“And the Supreme Court’s like, ‘no, that’s not true. Courts can rule. Legislators can legislate. Voters can vote. Judges can judge,’” Rostron said. “Everybody will do their part.”

In his filing to the court, Capozzi wrote that Missouri could only have a referendum if the Constitution included language explicitly allowing it. 

“Just as all other parts of American government are protected by clear statement rules before courts find their power stripped, state legislatures are treated no differently under the elections clause,” Capozzi wrote.

In addition to the 1922 redistricting referendum, voters nearly got the chance to vote on a congressional map referendum in 1952. In 1962, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld a redistricting plan but noted that “the people of this state have a remedy for even valid redistricting, which they do not like, through our initiative and referendum provisions.”

The resistance to a referendum on the map drawn in 2025 is the first time anyone has denied that a referendum is possible, Hatfield wrote.

“That understanding remained undisturbed until now,” he wrote.

One argument Capozzi has emphasized is that a redistricting plan is essentially a political choice that should not be second-guessed or placed on a ballot.

“If a referendum were permitted, virtually any group could use the initiative process to propose congressional maps,” he wrote.

In one sense, Rostron said, Capozzi is right. The case in front of the court because of partisan politics.

“And in this instance, I think the same thing is really true of the legal issues,” Rostron said. “In other words, these are not things that have a clear right or wrong legal answer. They are very debatable.”

Final appeal

The Missouri Supreme Court must rule by next Tuesday if the referendum is going to be on the ballot. That is the last day in state law for the courts to add items to the ballot.

The way Republican arguments are structured, Smith and Rostron said, leaves a narrow path for a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court if Green is overturned. Whether the nation’s highest court would intervene is doubtful, they both agreed.

The path is through the arguments that the U.S. Constitution’s elections clause bars a referendum. The court already rejected the theory that courts cannot second-guess redistricting plans in a 2023 case out of North Carolina. 

And if the Missouri Supreme Court rules only on questions of state law and constitution, intervention is unlikely, Smith said.

“If something is a matter of state constitutional law, there’s a doctrine called adequate and independent state grounds,” he said. “If the decision below is based on the state constitution, the United States Supreme Court does not weigh in.”

If the Missouri Supreme Court includes an extensive discussion of the federal constitutional questions in its opinion, that would open the door for the last-chance appeal, Smith said.

“An appeal would be possible, but, I would hope, be unlikely to succeed,” Smith said.

Rostron agreed that an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court would be unlikely to succeed.

“I would guess,” he said, “that the [U.S.] Supreme Court would probably just stay the heck out of it and let the people of Missouri do what they’re going to do.”

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

Nightmare on 7th Street: St. Charles Avenue to be closed at 7th Street

(From MoDOT)

TRAFFIC ALERT: St. Charles Ave. CLOSED at Route 66 (7th Street) in Joplin Sept. 2-7

When: 6 a.m., Wednesday, September 2 through 6 p.m., Monday, September 7

Where: North leg of St. Charles Avenue at Missouri Route 66 (7thStreet) in Joplin

What: Contractor crews installing new storm water structures

Traffic Impacts

No access to north leg of St. Charles Avenue from Route 66 (7th Street)

Drivers will have access to south leg of St. Charles Avenue from Route 66 (7th Street)

At least one lane of Route 66 (7th Street) OPEN in both directions

Access to all business along Route 66 (7th Street) will be maintained during hours of operation

No signed detours

Check MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map for road closings/traffic impacts

Weather and/or scheduling conflicts could alter the work schedule.

Additional Information

This work is part of a MoDOT project to make improvements along the Route 66 (7th Street) corridor in Joplin between Jasper County Route P (Schifferdecker Avenue) and Loop 49 (Range Line Road).

As part of this project, the contractor will rebuild the pavement, bring sidewalks up to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards, and upgrade and replace several traffic signals along the corridor.

This contract also includes a project to rehabilitate the Oak Street bridge over I-49 in Carthage. That project is likely to start in 2027.

City of Joplin under burn ban

(From the Joplin Fire Department)

With extreme temperatures in effect again this week and no significant rainfall in the forecast, the City of Joplin is currently under a burn ban.

According to the Joplin Fire Department by order of the Fire Marshal, all open burning – including recreational and cooking fires – have been banned within the city limits of Joplin. 

This ban will remain in effect until weather conditions improve and there is measurable rainfall across the entire region that will allow for dry conditions to improve.

Over the past few days, there have been numerous fires that have occurred that quickly grew out of control due to the dangerous weather conditions. All citizens of Joplin are asked to abide by this ban and refrain from any activity that could result in an uncontrolled fire.

For more information, contact the Joplin Fire Department at 417-623-0403.

 

La-Z-Boy announces $23 million expansion in Neosho, 100 jobs

(From the Missouri Department of Economic Development)

La-Z-Boy Incorporated, a global leader in both the retail and manufacture of residential furniture, today announced plans to invest $23 million and create up to 100 new jobs through a manufacturing expansion and the construction of a new distribution center in Neosho. The 150,000-square-foot facility will serve as a centralized distribution hub within the company’s agile U.S. supply chain network.

“Missouri is proud to see La-Z-Boy Incorporated continue to invest and grow in Neosho, reinforcing the strength of our manufacturing industry and the talented workforce that keeps it moving forward,” said Governor Mike Kehoe. “This expansion is another example of what’s possible when great companies, strong communities, and hardworking Missourians come together. We appreciate La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s continued commitment to our state and look forward to the new opportunities this investment will create for families and the Neosho community.”

La-Z-Boy Incorporated is a leading retailer and manufacturer of high-quality, custom furniture that transforms the home. Founded on American heritage, the iconic La-Z-Boy brand has been synonymous with comfort, quality, and craftsmanship for nearly 100 years. As an end-to-end enterprise, the company manages every aspect of its business—from retail, manufacturing, and design to distribution and after-service care.

“As home to one of La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s oldest manufacturing facilities, Neosho has been an integral part of our company for more than 50 years,” said Melinda Whittington, Board Chair, President, and CEO of La-Z-Boy Incorporated. “This facility manufactures a significant portion of customized La-Z-Boy furniture and is critical in our ability to delight and inspire consumers. It was clear that expanding our presence in the city with a distribution center would deliver enhanced operational efficiencies for the enterprise and also fortify an already strong consumer experience.”

For this expansion, La-Z-Boy Incorporated will benefit from the Missouri Works Program, a tool that helps companies expand and retain workers by providing access to capital through withholdings or tax credits for job creation. La-Z-Boy Incorporated is estimated to receive $356,304 through the Missouri Works Program subject to verification of program requirements.

“La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s decision to expand in Neosho is a tremendous win for the community and Southwest Missouri,” said Michelle Hataway, Director of the Department of Economic Development. “This commitment reflects the strength of Missouri’s manufacturing sector, our skilled workforce, and the partnerships that help businesses grow and succeed. We’re proud to support La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s continued investment in Missouri and the new opportunities it will create for Missourians.”

To support its growth in Neosho, La-Z-Boy Incorporated has recently increased the starting pay at its Neosho manufacturing facility to $20/hour. Those interested in joining the team can learn more about available positions and apply here.

What others are saying

“La-Z-Boy Incorporated's continued investment in Neosho reflects the strength of our workforce and the strong partnership that has existed between the company and our community for many years,” said David Kennedy, Neosho City Manager. “As Neosho's largest manufacturing employer, La-Z-Boy Incorporated plays a vital role in our local economy, and we are grateful for their ongoing commitment to creating opportunities for our residents and contributing to the long-term success of our region.”

“Grow Neosho and Neosho Land Development are proud to support La-Z-Boy Incorporated’s continued growth and expansion in our community,” said Warren Langland, CEO and Director of Economic Development for Grow Neosho. “This investment demonstrates the company’s confidence in Neosho, the quality of our workforce, and the strength of the long-standing partnership between La-Z-Boy Incorporated and our community. As Neosho’s largest manufacturing employer, La-Z-Boy Incorporated has been instrumental in creating jobs, supporting local families, and strengthening our regional economy. We sincerely appreciate their continued commitment to Neosho and look forward to working together as the company expands its operations and creates new opportunities for future generations.”

 

Jason Smith: We must protect women's sports

(From Eighth District Congressman Jason Smith)

On issue after issue, it seems more and more like it’s not just right versus left or conservative versus liberal; it’s common sense versus crazy. Debates are playing out between supporting law enforcement versus defunding the police or securing our borders versus allowing drugs and criminals to freely cross our border. 

Maybe no issue highlights the crazy we are fighting against better than whether to protect women’s sports or to allow men who claim to be women to play in women’s sports. And Missouri is leading the way on pushing back against this crazy.

I was so proud to see Sophie Cunningham — a Columbia, Missouri basketball star from Rock Bridge High School who attended Mizzou and now plays in the WNBA for the Indiana Fever — becoming the most prominent female athlete to speak out in defense of keeping women’s sports protected for biological women. She’s been relentlessly questioned by the media and even fellow WNBA players and coaches for speaking out, but she refuses to back down. “I said what I said,” she told reporters after being pressed about her views, “and I’ll always believe in that.” That’s the kind of common sense that comes from Missouri.

What’s as remarkable as Sophie speaking out is the fact that there aren’t more female athletes willing to publicly state that same opinion. Sophie has been left to defend her position alone, and no other WNBA player has come to her defense. Worse still, the WNBA appears unable to say that biological men shouldn’t be able to play in their league. How is this possible?!?

While the issue of protecting women’s sports has received renewed attention after Sophie began speaking out, this isn’t a new fight for me. I’ve coauthored the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act multiple times, and I’ve helped lead the fight to get it through the House of Representatives in both this Congress and the previous Congress. Senate Democrats have been siding with their base’s extreme agenda over protecting the rights of women and girls who just want a fair shot at competing in the sports they love, and they have blocked the bill from moving forward both times.

Title IX opened doors for millions of girls across this country, including right here in Missouri, and I’m not going to sit back and watch that progress get thrown to the side to appease a nonsensical political movement. I’m proud that at the state level, Missouri has led the way by ensuring only biological women can compete in women’s sports.

Sophie Cunningham earned her place in Mizzou history by beating the best competition women’s basketball had to offer, and now she’s using her platform to stand up for the girls coming up behind her. Every girl picking up a basketball, a bat, or running track in Missouri or any other state deserves that same fair shot Sophie had. That’s what this fight has always been about, and it’s why I’ll keep pushing for this commonsense legislation until it’s signed into law.

Commentary: Missouri activists want fewer cameras on citizens, more on politicians

By Jason Hancock 

Missouri Independent

Pulaski County Sheriff Stacy Ball thinks Flock cameras help his deputies fight crime.

But he also thinks they’re not worth keeping.

Ball recently announced his office was pulling the plug on Flock Safety, the network of cameras that photographs license plates and gives police a database they can search later — and which has come increasingly under bipartisan fire across the country.

As far as Ball knows, his deputies never abused the system. He believes they used it responsibly. But he’s been hearing from residents worried about privacy, government surveillance and what could happen if the technology fell into the wrong hands.

In the end, that mattered more.

“Your voice matters. Your rights matter. Your trust matters,” he wrote.

Elsewhere in Missouri, the concerns of Flock critics aren’t hypothetical.

The St. Charles County Police Department shut down its network this month after discovering a civilian employee had used the database for a personal, non-law-enforcement purpose. The employee was put on unpaid leave and resigned after being notified the department intended to fire them. The misuse was uncovered after Flock rolled out a tool that flags unusual search patterns.

In Joplin, an officer left the department in January after an investigation found the system had been improperly used. Activists who reviewed the records said the officer accounted for roughly a quarter of the department’s Flock searches and ran one license plate about 395 times, typically listing “DWI” or “Warrants” as the reason without attaching a case number.

That helps explain why Flock has found plenty of skeptics in Missouri, especially among grassroots conservatives.

And they’ve picked up influential allies along the way.

“Americans do not surrender their privacy rights when they drive to work, drop their kids off at school, or go to church,” U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri said last week.

At the same time many of those conservatives are pushing back against Flock cameras in their communities, they’re demanding a camera be turned on in one particular place: the Missouri Senate.

For years, activists have wanted the Missouri Senate to livestream its proceedings. You can listen to the Senate online, but you can’t watch senators debate on the floor. It remains one of only two legislative chambers in the country where that’s true.

State Sen. Mike Moon, an Ash Grove Republican, has repeatedly tried to change it. This spring, his proposal died in circumstances that would have been a little too on the nose if someone had written them into a screenplay.

Senators voted 12-11 to table Moon’s proposal using a standing division. That’s when senators physically rise from their desks to be counted, so there was no roll call showing who voted which way.

The Senate does record video of its proceedings, though, mostly for internal use. The conservative group Act for Missouri filed a Sunshine Law request, paid $6 and got a copy.

And at the point in the video when senators stood up to vote on whether Missourians should be able to watch the Senate, the screen went black.

Perfect.

Moon, as it happens, is also among a bipartisan group of lawmakers who sponsored legislation this year restricting state and local governments from using automated license plate readers.

The two positions may look contradictory, but the argument isn’t really over whether cameras are good or bad. It’s over on which side of the lens government belongs.

Police argue Flock cameras help them find stolen cars, missing people and suspects. But the cameras don’t wait until police suspect you of something. They photograph the cars that pass by and keep the information so police can search it later.

The Missouri Senate works the other way around.

These are elected officials conducting public business in a public building. Yet the Senate keeps video of that work largely for itself. If citizens want to see it, they have to ask, wait and sometimes pay for it.

Put the two fights next to each other and the politics make more sense. The government should have to justify watching you. You shouldn’t have to justify watching the government.

Maybe Missouri doesn’t have a camera problem.

Maybe the cameras are just pointed the wrong way.

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

Joplin man held without bond for statutory sodomy, supplying liquor, marijuana to minors

A motion for bond reduction for a Joplin man being held without bond on statutory sodomy and delivery of marijuana to someone under 17 is scheduled for 9:15 a.m. Tuesday in Jasper County Circuit Court for Gaige Carson (DOB 2004), Joplin.

Carson also faces a misdemeanor charge of supplying liquor to a minor.

From the probable cause statement:

On August 23rd 2026 at 0234 hours, officers responded to 1010 S Pennsylvania st, in the city of Webb City, County of Jasper, State of Missouri, for a medical call. Four subjects were on scene, two 13-year-old females, J I and J2, a 22 year old male, identified as Gaige Carson and an 18 year old female. 

Upon investigating the circumstances of JI's injuries, officers discovered that Gaige had picked up the group of girls at different places and J1 and J2 were heavily intoxicated. Gaige picked up J1 from Oronogo, stopped at Raphael's Liquor store and bought 2 bottles of Pink Whitney. 

Carson drove to Kellogg Lake where he began "making out" with the juvenile girl, the probable cause statement said, ending up with a deviant sexual act.

They left Kellogg Lake and drove to Joplin where they picked up J2 and {the 18-year-old} . They went to several gas stations in Joplin and Gaige bought J I , J2 and {the 18-year-old} marijuana in the form of a single pre roll. They stopped at Casey's at Zora and Rangeline where Gaige and J I were making out and groping each other's groins on the hood of his truck. {The 18-year-old} stated she observed this first hand. 

A consent search of Gaige's phone was conducted on August 23rd and several child pornography videos
were located on Gaige's Snapchat account. Photos of JI were also located in his recently deleted folder on his camera roll. Several messages were located of Gaige eliciting sexual material from minors as well as partaking in sexually explicit conversations with them.

Connect2Culture, Nice Guys fail Joplin Health Department Inspections

Nice Guys, 101 N. Range Line Road, and Connect2Culture, 212 W. 7th Street, failed Joplin Health Department inspections this week, according to information posted on the department website. 

Nice Guys

The Nice Guys inspection came afer the restaurant failed an inspection last week.

Nice Guys received one priority violation, for cleaning utensils, but not sanitizing them before reuse. The same violation was recorded the previous week.

Five core violations were recorded and can be found at this link.

Connect2Culture

Connect2Culture received a priority violation because sanitizer for chlorine in the dish machine was at 0 ppm and a core violation for not providing a sanitizer test kit.

***

The following establishments passed inspection:

The Outreach House, 807 S. Moffett Avenue

Short Rest, 411 S. Main Street

U Gas, 1201 S. Range Line Road

Indo-Chinese Express, 4543 Highway 43

The Corner, 2002 S. Main Street (re-inspection)

Pineapple Bliss, 1021 E. 20th Street

Social BTB, 1027 S. Main Street

The Naz, 2124 Utica Street

Maverick, 3434 S. Range Line Road

J-H Cattle Company and Meat Store, 1316 E. Broadway Street

Cecy's Cakes, 116 N. Range Line Road

Nancy Hughes: When God had it with my control issues

“The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”

Psalm 27:1 (NIV)

“He’s going to college, Lord – COLLEGE!!! What if he meets the wrong people? What if he doesn’t study and loses his scholarship? What if someone hits him over the head and takes his money? What if he doesn’t match the right shirt with the right pair of jeans? What if? What if? What if? Calm and reason gave way to unreason in a matter of seconds. Ever been there?

Well, I was. Our oldest child was heading to a college only about 40 miles away. To me, it might as well have been across the country, the sea, and on a completely different continent. I realized that I was worrying and fearful, but isn’t that on a mother’s job application? “Must be able to worry and be fearful on demand.”

However, something happened. The worry and fear that I entertained with a cup of tea and two cookies became a never-ending 8-course meal. Those two sins (and they ARE sins) kept popping up in my mind. I had allowed common sense and sanity to become an obsession with my son leaving for college, and the Lord decided He had had enough.

One evening, I was praying about the move away from home when the Lord spoke quietly but firmly to my heart: “Nancy, I’ve checked, and the college he is going to is within my territory. It’s on my beat. It’s on my shift. I do not need a map. I KNOW where it is, Nancy. And I love him.” Talk about a reality check!

It was easy for me to trust the Lord with my son’s life when he was right in front of me and living in my house. But the minute I saw that he was going to be out of my control, I lost control and became a maniac. Every Scripture that I had memorized about a Father who is in control, knows all things, and protects us was replaced with doubt and a franticness that threatened to consume me.

What had happened? I had allowed Satan to creep in and steal my confidence in my Father. Instead of praising the Lord for my son and asking Him to guide and direct as he moved in a new direction in his life, I focused on the situation and not on the Source of strength and power.

Instead of realizing that no matter where my son was, my Father was in complete control, I had somehow thought that I was the one in control and that my son’s success or failure in life would solely depend on his living under my roof, where I could keep an eye on every move and every decision. So what did I do?

I got on my knees and asked my Father to forgive me for not trusting His plan and protection for my son’s life. My heart cried out, “He is yours, Father. You have entrusted him to me for this time on earth, and I trust you to do your will in his life.”

Would you believe that my son did just fine at college? He did. Would you believe that the Lord watched over him and directed his path? In every way, yes. And would you believe that Satan still tried to sneak into my thoughts and convince me that, without me at the controls of his life, my son was destined for one horrible problem after another?

Oh, yes, he tried. But each time Satan whispered his lies, I focused on a Father who says in Isaiah 43:1” . . . Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (NIV) He knows my son’s name, and He knows your name, too.

God has created us, His children, and He wants to take care of us and to direct our lives every day. Hand every situation in your life to the One who is in control of heaven and earth, sky and sea, and yes, of your life and mine. The Creator does not need directions to your home. He simply needs permission to enter your heart and take control.

Father, you are in control, and I am not. Nothing happens in my life that does not first pass through your hands. I trust you. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

What is your first reaction when you feel you are not in control of a situation? Is it worry and panic or trust and prayer?

Do you have a prayer warrior who will hold you accountable when you begin to worry over problems instead of placing them at the feet of Jesus?

Apply

Every morning, pause for two minutes and give the Lord your day. Ask Him to help you trust Him with everything you will face and praise Him for His answers.

Write down Scriptures on index cards that encourage you to trust the Lord and tape them around your home. As you memorize them, make new cards and repeat.

Power

Psalm 27:1 (NIV) “The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?”

Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (NIV)

I Peter 5:7 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (NIV)

 

(For more of Nancy Hughes' writing, check out her blog, Encouragement from the War Room.)