This study explores the influence of external control orientations on entrepreneurial opportunities and outcomes. Entrepreneurs are characterised as headstrong individuals with a strong illusion of control, seeking to exert influence over as much of their environment as possible. However, this characterisation fails to consider those who display exogenous control beliefs, such as religious entrepreneurs. By examining the entrepreneurial behaviour of Evangelical Christian entrepreneurs, we provide a more nuanced perspective of entrepreneurs control orientations, demonstrating how and why individuals might be willing to cede control to an exogenous system during entrepreneurial processes. In doing so, this study provides new insights into the source of entrepreneurial opportunities, presenting a novel characterisation of opportunities as given and explicates the relationship between risk perceptions and an external control orientation.