Ever heard of the phrase ‘God is my Pilot’? Well I came up with a totally new phrase. Completely original. 'God is my Student Driver'. How do you like that? I was thinking about God as I was driving my car this morning. You know, how as Christians He’s supposed to be in control of our lives.The reality is that for many Christians, God is in the passenger seat. That’s right. They make all of the decisions in their lives. What they’ll be, where they’ll live, how they’ll live, who they’ll marry, how they’ll spend their money and so on. They’ve got God in the vehicle with them but that’s about the extent of it. Sure, they may ask God for His input from time-to-time. But they are still the ones in control. Behind the wheel.
Then there are other Christians who have no problem with God driving. They gladly sit in the passenger seat. That’s because they know that God deserves to be driving. He’s more experienced. Knowledgeable. And besides, that’s what the Bible says they are supposed to do. So they are all over it. End of story, right? Wrong.
First of all, just because God’s driving doesn’t mean that they don’t get behind the wheel again from time to time. Those darn rest stops! Secondly, if God’s about to go in a direction they don’t want to go, they have no problem just reaching right over and turning the wheel where they want to go. It’s pretty easy actually. Now this doesn’t mean that it’s safe to do. Just easy.
Still other Christians treat God as their Student Driver. I think this is where I am most of the time. What do I mean by this? I mean that even though I may be in the passenger seat I’m not all that comfortable with it. It’s not like I can to go to sleep while God’s driving! The truth is that I’m nervous the whole time that I’m in the vehicle with Him. Is He going to go too fast? Or too slow? Is He going to take a wrong turn? Will He be able to stop in time if something jumps out in front of us? What about the various road conditions we might encounter? Finances? Health? Relationships? Can He navigate safely through all these hazards? What if He falls asleep at the wheel? Can He manage to keep us out of the ditch? Or keep us from getting killed? (Figuratively, of course!) The fact is that I have to watch God like a hawk the whole time. Just to make sure that everything goes OK. Just like I would a Student Driver.
Unfortunately, while I’m still going to get to the places that God wants to take me in this arrangement, I’m going to be nothing more than a bundle of nerves. God wants better for me than that. He wants me to relax. To enjoy the ride. He wants to be my everyday, regular driver. Someone whom I can trust completely. All the time. In good weather and bad. Day or night. In familiar territory or unfamiliar territory.
So, just how do I go from God being my Student Driver to my Regular Driver? One word. Faith. Faith that He knows what He’s doing. Faith that He knows the way. Even though I don’t. Faith that He can handle any combination of road conditions/weather that is possible. Faith that I am safer with Him driving than I could ever possibly be if I were behind the wheel.
Sorry, but I’ve got to go. God’s driving and I’m going to get a little shut-eye. Hey God, wake me up when we get to our next destination, will You?
Lord, help me not to treat You as a Student Driver in my life. Always watchful. Always nervous. Always afraid. Help me to have complete faith and confidence in Your abilities to guide and direct my life. To keep me safe. To help me arrive at my final destination. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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