Thank You, Father, for a wonderful time of worship in our churches this morning. Thank You for the ability to accomplish tasks and take part in nourishment with family and for the opportunity to get a few steps in with Massey, enjoying some time together. I am undoubtedly blessed.
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One day last week, I noticed how I (and I’m sure all of us) drive. When your hands are on the steering wheel, they are not locked into a fixed position. While driving my bus, my hands are placed at 9:00 and 3:00, as has been determined to be the safest place with the greatest ability to control unforeseen circumstances with the best outcome possible. But while driving, they are not locked immovably. Beyond moving the wheel to account for curves in the road or making deliberate turns onto other roads, my hands are not static on the steering wheel. While driving, I am continually making adjustments, some of them relatively minute movements – a bit to the left, a bit to the right.
Roads are not by any means perfect. Even brand-new roads demand this kind of control. I have one single stretch of county road that is brand new. The rest of my route is on well-worn and some overly worn stretches of highway. One of my roughest segments is a state highway with many patches, and I don’t know what causes it, but sections where there are what I would call warped ridges toward the center of the road cause my bus to bounce quite a bit.
In life, we, too, cannot expect to cruise along on autopilot. We have to keep an eye focused on where we are going. We have to be wary of distractions. We have to make sure that we are aware enough of our surroundings that we can readily make adjustments on an ongoing basis. We dare not let go of the wheel, even for a brief period of time.
One great thing we should take advantage of is that, like the Carrie Underwood song a few years back, we should learn to let Jesus take the wheel. Grant it; it is not so much a literal, physical act but an overruling state of mind where we strive to be so attuned to Jesus that we can quickly respond to His prompting to adjust our course to avoid problems ahead of us, many of which we may not be aware of but that He can clearly see and steer us around.
We would never consider locking our steering wheel into place even on a stretch of clear, even, straight section of highway. That being the case, why do we occasionally assume that we can sit back and let life come at us without a care in the world? We must be diligent. We must be ready. Honestly, we must yield to the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit throughout our lives, day in and day out. There’s no better way to travel this sometimes long and arduous journey.
Oct 15th, 2023, Sun, 7:45 pm
