ControlSample

DRIVER’S-ED BRAKE 

It hurts to say this, but I took Driver’s Education a full 20 years ago. (So, it's possible this analogy will make no sense to you modern people because things might be way different now.) But, back in the day, you devoted a full week of summer school to classwork, and then you had to put in a certain amount of hours behind the wheel with your instructor. And I’ll never forget that early morning where my teacher, two other students, and myself climbed into a white Ford Taurus to risk our lives in rush-hour traffic. But, this was not just any Ford Taurus…this one had been customized for Driver’s-Ed. Up on the driver’s side, it was business as usual, but they had also installed a second brake pedal over on the passenger’s side for the instructor to use in case of emergencies. 

Now, I don’t want to get into a ranking of the three student drivers in the car that day, but I will say the instructor never touched that pedal during my stint at the wheel. He did, however, press it with gusto on multiple occasions to save all of our lives for each of the other two students (*author pats himself on the back*). And I remember thinking when I first climbed in the car and saw that setup, “how is that going to help? If someone is about to get us all killed, won’t this guy need more than a brake pedal to save us? Shouldn’t he have a steering wheel, or an eject button?” Let me tell you, I was wrong…that brake pedal is highly effective, and I’m still here today because of it. Thanks, Teach!

Here’s what this has to do with you and I and God. We often give Him control of our lives, but we try to sit in the passenger seat with our secret brake pedal. “Okay, Jesus, You take the wheel (yes, that’s an old school Carrie Underwood reference), but if You start to do something I don’t like or that makes me uncomfortable, I’m slamming on the brakes.” We don’t say it that blatantly, of course, but it’s an easy trap to fall into. 

The problem is that God never designed it to work that way. He calls us to lay our lives down, to give him everything, to be “a living sacrifice.” But, as the old saying goes, “the trouble with a living sacrifice is that it keeps climbing off the altar.” We want to give Him control, but we’re so married to the idea of controlling our own destiny that we can be really quick to use that brake pedal and take the control back from Him. 

But, when we do that, it’s really hard to get anywhere worthwhile. God is trying to “drive” us to a life more abundant and more amazing than anything we could dream up for ourselves, and we keep trying to slam on the brakes or take the next exit. If we could just act like that brake pedal isn’t even there, like we’re just passengers in full and complete trust of the driver, God will do some amazing things in our lives. So, give up control, let God do His thing, and watch and see just how good He really is.