Backseat Driver

Backseat Driver

Phil 4:8 “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.”

“Peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Peace that transcends all understanding.  Have you ever had this?  Have you ever felt at peace in a situation that was not peaceful?  Have you ever had peace about something that you didn’t understand?  There are so many things to be anxious about, especially in the world today.  

However, God can give us a peace that transcends all understanding if we ask him too.  If we trust that he is in control.  We don’t have to worry about everything because we are lucky and we have Him taking care of everything and working all things for our good. Romans 8:28 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  God is working for our good if we just let him work.  If we just rely on him to come through for us.  There are some situations that seem impossible.  I get that.  Some of you may be thinking that God offer’s peace to some, but not to others.  Maybe you haven’t felt that peace before and you are wondering if God has forgotten about you.  I assure you, he has not.  God is offering his peace to all who want it.  The thing is, we need to accept it.  We need to step out in faith and hand our troubles, no matter how big or small they are, to God and let him take the wheel.

There is a song by TobyMac called Backseat Driver. It is a really great illustration of how we tend to want to take control back from God.  God wants to go through this life with us and He wants to be the driver.  He wants us to rely on him to get us to where we are going.  There is one part of this song that says: “I'm putting my trust in You, putting my trust in You.  It’s a little bit overdue, but I'm putting my trust in You”  Isn’t this so true!  We put our trust in God, when we have no choice, when we tried everything we could to fix it on our own and nothing has worked. Then, finally, when all else has failed we put our trust in God.  We finally realize that nothing we have done has fixed our situation and so we turn over control to God.  What if we could begin to do this sooner?  What if we did this at the first sign of trouble?  Imagine how great it would be to save all that time that we usually spend trying to fix things ourselves and the countless hours we spend worrying about things?  Imagine how nice it would be if we could turn everything over to God, before we waste that time.  

There is another part in the song that says, “Silly me, silly me, aye.  Reverting back to my old ways.  Them got to be in control days.  Jump before I pray, Yo, I am heading out the doorway. But I want Your way, Yahweh.”  Does this sound familiar?  Have you ever found yourself stuck in a situation you didn’t want to be in?  Have you ever found yourself wondering how you got there and promising that the next time you had a decision to make, you would pray about it first?  And you did, at least for awhile, but then things were going good again.  Everything seemed to be working out and you started spending less and less time in prayer?  What if we consulted our heavenly Father before making any of our decisions? What if we took a few minutes at the beginning of our day and asked God what he wanted us to do that day?  

Reverting back to our old ways is something that we all do.  I have heard a lot of my mentors say over the years that “it is not a knowing problem, it is a doing problem.”  Usually when we revert back to our old ways it is not because we don’t know better.  We usually know what is best for us and what produces the best results.  However, we tend to slip back into doing what is easiest, or what comes most naturally instead of what is best.  

Letting God take the wheel and lead us is the best way to go through life.  He knows what is best for us and can save us so much time and pain.  Often times we think we know what we want in life and we are upset when we don’t get it.  In times like these, as hard as it is, it will help to remember that God is the driver.  His ways are greater than our ways.  Isaiah 55:8-9 says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”  If a door that you wanted to open, didn’t open, its because your heavenly father has something much better in store for you.  It is not always easy to see that and I know in the moment of disappointment it is hard to remember.  Think about when you were little and you wanted to watch tv, or eat the candy, or do something else that would not have been great for you and your parents wanted more for you.  If you have children, think about how many times you have to say no to them because of something better you have in store.  If we could do this for our children, think of how much more our father in heaven wants for us.  

Where in your life have you been taking back control?  Where have you been reverting back to your old ways?  Is there somewhere in your life where you could put your trust back in God?  

Are you being a backseat driver?

Dear Heavenly Father, please be with us each and every day.  Please help us to turn control back over to you.  Please help us to turn our worries and fears over to you as well.  Lord, we want you to direct our lives.  You want more for us then we could possibly want for ourselves.  We thank you for protecting us from ourselves and from things that we don’t even know about.  We thank your for all of the doors that you have closed for us in order for us to walk through even better doors.  Lord you are truly amazing and we are sorry for all the times we forget to turn our trust over to you.  You are our first choice and we ask that you help us to remember that each and every day.  Lord we love you and we thank you for all that you do. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name. Amen.  

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