Who’s in the Driver’s Seat?I recently shared the metaphor about bumping your heart with a fellow homeschooler. She responded in this way:
| He gives us these bumps to teach us to be still.Many lessons learned are because of these bumps in the roads, however He (the Lord) is the guardrail on the highway of life, the guardrail may dent, and scratch but it keeps us safe and secure... |
I understood the application of her metaphor and wanted to process with her a little more, which she graciously did.
I wrote:
We're sharing two different metaphors—yours related to circumstances or "bumps in the road" as you identify them; mine, related to the bumping the heart.
What I hear you saying (and correct me if I am wrong) is that Biblical principles can be likened to the guard rail. While driving through life if we hit a bump in the road, the Biblical principles bring us back to the center of our “drive” (so we can stay in the center of the will of God for our lives), like the center of the road. And I agree that Biblical principles can be likened to a guard rail. When we are in control of our lives, we often drive into the guardrail of Biblical principles. But thankfully we don’t need to be driving that car into the guardrail; rather, we need to turn the steering wheel over to Him and ask Him to be in the driver’s seat of our lives.
What I am trying to convey here is that God begins the process of transforming our lives when we begin to see who we ARE in the light of His holiness—thus the metaphor of the bumping of the heart. When those circumstances and relationships that uniquely represent our lives bump us, how do we respond? However we respond reveals to US who we ARE (God already knows who we are). And who we are is reflected in what we choose to DO—for example, drive the car into the guardrail of Biblical principles that undergird our lives or abide in Him as He directs our lives, driving us through the things that will impart His Life to us as we grow in relationship with Him.
If we want more of the Lord in our lives, more of His discipline that will transform us, we need not focus on the overwhelming bumps in the road of life if He is in the driver’s seat. Instead we can talk with Him, the pilot/navigator/driver of our lives, and focus on Him and His holiness as compared to what pours forth from us when life’s circumstances and relationships bump our hearts. Do we trust where He is taking us or are we always trying to grab that wheel from Him, thinking we know what is best—fearing the circumstances He allows in our lives through His orchestrated trials or complaining about the circumstances we have created through our disobedience—rather than fearing Him (Isaiah 8:13)?
As we pray (listen to Him) and willingly obey Him in our everyday circumstances, we will be allowing Him in, to bring about the changes that will truly affect the way we live moment by moment. As we trust Him more fully and abide in Him, the circumstances of life won’t be quite so overwhelming as He establishes us steadfast in the center of His will. No more bumping into the guardrail. Glory be to God!
So the question I’m asking each woman reading this is, Are you in the driver’s seat, causing more bumps in your life as you constantly hit the guardrail, and then praying to the Lord to help you? OR Are you tired of all the chaos in your life and are ready to ask Him to be in the driver’s seat (to become not only Savior but Lord of your life), keeping you in the center of His will as He teaches you to trust Him while you abide in His car, in relationship with Him?
He will give you personal revelation about the answer to this question as your heart is bumped by the relationships and circumstances in your life. In other words, what pours forth from you as you to speak to and relate to others as well as how you respond to the circumstances of your life is His way of showing you who you really are. Won’t you invite Him to become Lord of your life now?
Take the wheel, Lord. I’m too bruised from my driving. You be in control now. I’m ready.
Lord, give Your life to these words.
Her response:
| In a way we are seeing it differently, and in a way we may be seeing much of the same; the Lord is in our drivers seat, and it took some bunps to learn that He needed to be.Some bumps were self created, and others were put there to teach us a different lesson; each gave us additional wisdom and lead us to give it all to Him. At times we still need to be reminded to be still... :) Since many of us are still teaching children and teen/young adults I use the guard rail as an example of "protection" how the Lord wants to safe guard us as a loving parent even though He knows we will at times test the waters. That is an example/explanation until they have reached that maturity to have a better understanding of the Lord needing to be in charge. That is, until He has bumped their hearts enough for them to understand. |
Thank you for your gracious response.
My heart's desire is to minister to struggling moms and help them to be overcomers in the Lord. Often we get so wrapped up in our children while homeschooling that we neglect to see how God is parenting and homeschooling us moms.
And many moms have not put the Lord in the driver's seat, to continue this metaphor, which is why they have such a struggle leading their children to the Lordship of Christ.
So while I agree that the guardrail (really the Law) is there to lead His children to Christ, I hope that this metaphor of the spilled milk (and our subsequent discussion of the purpose of difficult relationships and circumstances) causes moms to evaluate where they currently are in their Christian walk: before the cross, at the cross, or after the cross.
Thank you again for being willing to process your thoughts with me for clarification. I appreciate and learn much from such dialogues.
Note:
Metaphors are not doctrine and can only be taken so far. This metaphor of Christ being in the driver’s seat asks the question, Who is sitting on the throne of your heart: you or Christ?
That said, Christ died to set us free, and we have much personal liberty in Christ to make everyday choices. He does not direct our every move; instead, in Him, we move and have our being. For further insights into this concept of personal liberty in Christ, click here.
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Missionary MathOne morning as my Tigger-boy was doing his math, I read a logic question to him:
| "If some missionaries went to a tribe and 1/3 of the tribe was saved, how many people were saved? What fact was missing that you need to know to answer this question? |
He answered without hesitation, "How much did they pray?"
I hope this story makes you chuckle and
encourages you to pray for missionaries today. Return to the Table of Contents
Dating or Courting?There is often talk in homeschooling circles about the dating vs. courting ideologies.
When our oldest child was younger, my husband and I looked into these philosophies but didn't feel a need to make any decision about which way to lean. We still don't feel the need because we trust what our now 18 year-old daughter will choose to do because we know that she lives within the freedom of Christ and is not drawn by the world. But that's not the story I want to share.
One morning after my 12-year-old "Tigger" son was getting ready for his piano lessons, he came downstairs dressed in jeans and a button-up long-sleeved flannel shirt. He looked so dapper, and he is such a happy fellow—always bouncing around smiling and being funny and cheery.
The day before his lesson, he cleaned the entire backyard—took down the tent, cleaned out the fire pit, raked the swingset area, took the rock pile that was in the middle of the yard and moved it to a place where it actually looks nice. He spent four or five hours just whistling and serving—doing a little more than his dad asked him.
When I saw him that morning, looking so sharp in his flannel shirt, and thought about all his service the day before, I walked up to him, looked him in the eye (he is now at my eye level—same height as me), and gave him a big hug. I mean, BIG HUG!!!! I kissed him on the cheek and I said,
| "You know, darlin’, you were such a busy little guy, bouncing everywhere and just exhausting me with all your 'in your face' mannerisms. But you are growing up to use all that energy to serve others, and it is such a blessing. You are also such a cheery guy, and you really bless everyone in this family now. You are walking down a path of Godly manhood, and you will be such a marvelous husband and father. Be sure that you look for a young woman that is walking with the Lord like you are." |
Do you know what he said?
"Mom, before I get married, I'm going to check with you and Poppy and (he named all his siblings) to be sure she is the right one for me."
Never ever have we talked to him about dating or courting; but because he is loved unconditionally, he desires is to seek the counsel of those he loves before he makes such an important decision.
Teach us, Lord,
not to walk in philosophies
but to walk with You
and let Your unconditional love
pour forth to our children.
Thank You for the ripening fruit You produce
as we abide and wait on You.Return to the Table of Contents
Thank you for your interest in this blog!
Encourage one another,
and build up one another.
~I Thessalonians 5:11
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