| “In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” |
| —Proverbs 3:6 |
I know people who like using the cruise control in their cars. Not me! There’s something about trusting myself and my passengers to a machine that maintains a constant speed as we rocket down the highway that makes me very uncomfortable. I would much rather control my own pace from moment to moment.
My attitude towards cruise control makes me think about my life, as I travel with God “at the wheel,” so to speak. I often feel uncomfortable giving Him the controls, too. Yet, there comes a time when He asks all of us to trust Him with the steering wheel, the accelerator, the brake, and all other “controls” we may have over our lives—especially when the road isn’t clear and visibility seems especially poor!
I think of Abraham. In Hebrews 11:8 we read:
“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”
Now that’s giving up control! The Bible tells us of other times in Abraham’s life when he trusted God’s leading even though it must have made more sense to do something else.
We see the reason why we call Abraham the “Father of our Faith.” His faith in God controlled his actions time and again. And, because of that, Abraham saw magnificent acts of God’s power and love.
We also clearly see when we read the account of Abraham’s life that those times when he did not choose to obediently take his hands off the wheel of his life and surrender to God’s control were the times that he faltered. The consequences of those few times when Abraham pushed God’s hands out of the way and all-too-eagerly grasped the wheel for himself have reverberated down through the pages of history, right up to the present day.
It always helps to remember Who controls the wheel. While good driving for me may mean disengaging the cruise control, good faith means putting all we see and can’t see through the windshield totally in the control of our God. We can rely on His vision, His hearing, His wisdom, His reflexes, and, of course, His unfailing love.
Join me in learning to “cruise” through this life giving up the control to the One who loves us best and Who can always see what’s around the corner of the road ahead. There are no accidents on the road He chooses for us. And, though it may seem rough, narrow, steep, and dangerous at times, it is always in our very best interest to leave the driving of our lives to Him!
