Does God have your steering wheel? Or is He just the emergency brake?

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.

Letting Go of the Steering Wheel

How hard is it for you to let go of the steering wheel of life and let God drive? Are you like me sometimes and try taking the steering wheel over yourself? Occasionally, I am a backseat driver, and then when I lose control, I use God as the emergency brake. I’m not particularly proud of that fact, but I have to be honest. Some people have told me that they sometimes make God the spare tire and keep Him in the back, in the trunk and use Him only for emergency breakdowns. That’s a pretty good analogy, too. I can’t cast the first lug nut, though, because I like to be in control of my own life, but I risk making everything a wreck. How about you? Does God have your steering wheel, or do you take the wheel? Do you also use Him for just an emergency brake or even a spare tire?

Cease From Striving

How easy it is to strive and wrestle with God like Jacob did the angel until he blessed him (Gen. 32:26). We are told to stop striving and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10). The Hebrew word used for “striving” is an interesting one. It’s “raphah” and means “to sink down” or “to relax,” so if we read this from the perspective of what this verse really says, we need to sink down and relax by realizing that He is God–and we most certainly are not. Remember that God can see all the way to the end of road, including around the corners. I can hardly see ten feet in front of me. Who would you rather have driving? The God of the universe Who made the car or you, who doesn’t even know exactly how everything under the hood works? You know the answer to that rhetorical question; it should be God.

Hands off the Wheel

Let me tell you that taking your hands off the wheel of your life is a little like Peter walking on water;  you can do it, but it’s scary and you can’t take your eyes off Jesus. The moment you do, you’re going to try to take the steering wheel back over again, and there’s room for only one driver. Can you imagine trying to have two different hands on the steering wheel? I remember taking driver education long, long ago. The teacher had a brake that extended over into the front passenger side floorboard just in case of an emergency, but there was no way he could correct the steering wheel quickly enough to avoid an accident. I learned to trust the teacher and listen to what he told me. I don’t believe they have those extra brakes anymore in driver education cars, but the one who is still really driving that car is the student; however, they are doing so under the teacher’s supervision. Only later will the teacher let them do it as he or she sits in silence. As for me, I want to be in the passenger seat and let God do the driving because then the emergency brake won’t ever be needed.

A Closing Prayer

Father, You are sovereign over all things, and sometimes when I wrestle control from Your hands and take over the steering, I end up in the ditch. Please help me to trust You more and cease from striving so that I can sink down in my seat and relax and let You do the driving. In the Mighty Name of the Son of God I pray.

Amen