When Life Gets Out of Control

How do you handle life when things get out of control?  Do you react emotionally? Do you get fearful or angry?  Do you find yourself pulling away from God?

As I was driving Gabe to school this morning my mind stumbled upon an analogy that worked its way into a thought that I think might be of benefit to all of us, but especially as we navigate difficult life circumstances.  We were a couple of minutes behind schedule and I was making up some time by cutting a few corners on our windy road.  As I cruised around one turn I looked ahead and past the next curve to make sure there was no oncoming traffic and then through the trees to make sure that no car was coming down the driveway ahead of me.  I wasn't driving recklessly or screeching tires by any means but I wasn't driving like my 15-year-old either.  I thought about how much longer it would take us if she were driving, still wet behind the ears with her weeks old learner's permit.  She takes it slow and cautious and careful because everything is so new to her.  Because of my experience, I could drive a little faster and knew how to handle my vehicle better.  I thought of how panicked I would be if my inexperienced daughter were driving like I was at the moment and it reminded me of the Jeff Gordon Test Drive Prank video.  If you haven't seen it before, please watch it before you read on.  It's informative and hilarious!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1sL-Ito4sw

The video shows the reaction of a car salesman who is in a vehicle being driven by one whom he assumes is an inexperienced driver.  Of course, the driver is actually Jeff Gordon,a professional race car driver and the salesman is no danger whatsoever.  However, because he perceives that he is in great danger he is paralyzed, fearful, and crazed with worry.  He screams and hollers and begs for the man to stop.  He goes from being fearful to being terrified to being angry.  When the car finally stops, he storms away in fury.  But, once  the identity of the driver is revealed he relaxes, and with a broad grin asks to do it again.  Understanding that he was in the hands of a professional completely changed his view on what had just happened.  The thing that initially terrified him made him smile and want to repeat the experience simply because of his understanding of who was at the wheel.

So, how do we treat God when things get shaken up in our lives?  We're fine if He's taking it easy like someone with a learner's permit.  When he's going where we want him to go and following our directions from the passenger seat we are full of confidence, praise, and adoration.  But how about when things start to get a little crazy?  Well, maybe a little crazy is OK, we can take a few breaths and hang on tight, and then politely ask him to slow down or turn around.  But then things get way out of control and things are not comfortable or going in any kind of direction we understand.  This is when we lose it, we panic and want to take over.  Why is that?  Don't we trust him?  Don't we believe He has more experience than we do?  Do we not believe that He loves us and will never leave us nor foresake us?  Do we trust His plan to be greater than ours?  Do we trust His experience to lead us to a place that might not make sense to us?  And if we say we do, then what should we be doing about it?

What happened to the car salesman?  He became obsessed with stopping that car, with his personal safety.  He stopped being a car salesman and was suddenly just trying to be a survivor, resisting the one controlling the car with everything he had.  I understand that this analogy can only go so far, but the situation and his response to it put him in a position of not being able to do what his employer hired him to do.  He wasn't commenting on the excellent handling of the vehicle, the safety features as the tires gripped the tight turns, or anything at all to do with making a sale.  His resistance and panic left him unable to do his job.

The same thing happens to us when we fail to trust God as our driver.  He has commanded us to believe in Him, have faith in His leading, and to obey Him.  It's hard to seek out how we are to obey God, much less be obedient, when we are consumed with stopping God's plans or taking the wheel.  God really does command us to "trust and obey".  We don't have to try to grab control or worry, we get to take a breath and, with confidence, just keep following God's directions in our lives.  We are called to praise Him, to worship Him, and to love our families and neighbors.  He gave us His Word as our guide.  He wrote it in stone, and wrote it in a book, then he sent it, THE WORD, to us in the flesh of His Son Jesus Christ, and then wrote it on our hearts.  God knows we need His Word.  Spend time reading it, spend time memorizing it, take it in and live it out.

And let God do the driving.