First of all I don't see the faith approach as having anything to do with religion. I could have used "love" and "trust" instead of faith. But I opted for faith so I didn't have to write faith/love/trust each time.
When you use the faith approach you are not giving up your will to the universe. Rather you are releasing the oars and letting the current of life move you swiftly down the river. You still have your oars so that if you're paying attention you can easily avoid getting bashed against any rocks that are coming.
If you're using a control strategy you're controlling the speed and every minute movement of your boat in the water. It may be slower going, you may head down a tributary you really didn't want to go down, but you get the benefit of going at your own pace and choosing your own path and you can slow down your boat or speed it up and easily avoid rocks and low hanging trees.
Free will remains always, no matter which strategy you choose.