TODAY’S SIGNATURE VERSE ••• 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. (Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV)
PRAISE & PRAYER PROMPT ••• You know how a lot of people tend to drive with a lead foot, with little regard to established speed limits? Yeah, I’m not one of those people. In fact, I’m at the other end of that spectrum and tend to drive below the speed limit. (And before anyone says anything, yes—I know you can be ticketed for going too slow.) I used to have the lead foot, but the older I get, the more I slow down. And since I’m a control freak and a terrible passenger, I drive 99.9% of the time. My slow driving has become a joke among our family and friends.
Last night, my husband and I were driving home from my dad’s house. He and his wife live a little over an hour away from us, but to get there means going through a lot of interstate road construction. I did okay on the way there because it was still light out, but road construction after dark??? No, thank you!!! By the time we got to the first section of construction, I was driving with hands at 10 and 2, white-knuckled, and about 10 below the speed limit. Wayne finally had enough and insisted that I pull over and let him drive. I had to ride the rest of the way home with my eyes closed because I didn’t want to see. I know he was driving the speed limit, but it felt like we were shooting out of a cannon. When we got home, I had to make peppermint tea to soothe my queasiness before I could go to bed. Wayne thinks I don’t trust myself to drive. It’s not that… I don’t trust the other drivers.
While my slow driving provides comedic fodder for those who know me, the truth is, we all struggle with the same need for control. Most of us don’t give up control very well…. even the most laid-back among us want some modicum of control in their lives, no matter how easily they seem to roll with the punches.
With all we’ve gone through this year, it’s crystal clear: control is an illusion. We all want it. We all demand it. And none of us really have it. Our best bet is to stop fighting it. Stop trying to drive through the mayhem with white, cramped knuckles, and turn the wheel over to the One who is the ultimate Navigator. He’s the One who can make our paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “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.” Nowhere in this passage does it say, “Take back the wheel if you get nervous.” Nor does it say that the path will be smooth. It also doesn’t promise that you won’t get queasy from time to time… Living a life surrendered to God’s hands doesn’t always feel like a perfectly paved, open road Sunday drive. Often it feels like off-roading, but He’s never had a crash and is always in control. Even when circumstances aren’t.
Some may question being the passenger of your own life — rather than the driver. But from experience as a control freak, I’ve found that when God drives, things are better. Order is established. Balance comes. When God is the priority, the One we allow to drive, we can trust that we will always arrive safely in the end.
Today, as you pray, thank God for being a far better driver of your life than you are. Thank Him that He always knows the way. Thank Him for being the One to write the map! Ask the Holy Spirit to help you surrender control and trust that He knows where He is leading you.
SHARING ••• Please share with others! Visit www.MyGraceFullLife.com to read past blogs. ***Unless noted otherwise, all Scripture references are from the ESV translation.
