Driving, Direction, and Decisions

Our family loves to reminisce funny memories of things our kids did or said when they were small. Hannah was (not sure if that is really past tense) our goofiest child, so a lot of those stories stemmed from her antics. One in particular happened at Walt Disney World when she was about five years old.

We were riding Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (it has since been remodeled into The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh). The ride featured little cars that traveled along a self-propelled track with crazy twists and turns. Hannah was sitting in the front, clutching the steering wheel, totally stressed out from all the crazy turns. We were talking to her, and she frantically yelled, “Leave me alone! I’m trying to drive!”

We thought it was so funny that she was anxiously working so hard at turning that steering wheel that didn’t work. She was so frazzled that the car was moving in the opposite direction of her turns to the steering wheel. Once she understood that the car was in control, she was able to relax, let the car do the work, and enjoy the ride.

Have you ever done that with the Holy Spirit? I sure have. I have this incredible resource of strength, wisdom, and power actually living inside of me, ready to steer me in the right direction if I will only give up the steering wheel. I am a logical thinker, so many times when problems arise, I think I have to figure out all the answers myself. In my own foolish pride, I have often tried to find a solution to a problem that God already had a solution for. Scrambling to fix things, I am white-knuckling the steering wheel and getting more and more off course.

It’s a wild ride trusting God. But when I’ve done it, it’s more exhilarating than any roller-coaster I’ve been on. Even now, God is leading me down a path of trusting Him with a difficult decision. My knee-jerk reaction is to think logically through the pros and cons about which decision is best. But sometimes God calls us to do things that don’t seem logical. Sometimes He calls us to trust Him to work out the details when we are looking at that “cons” list.  And sometimes He wants to see if we will obey that tiny flicker of light at our feet that shows only the next step before He will illuminate the rest of the path. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” (Psalm 119:105).

I don’t know what decision I will make yet. I know that there are Scriptural principles to cover all circumstances of life decisions. Sometimes God gives us more than one equally legitimate option that is within His will. I am praying for the wisdom that God promises to give. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him,” (James 1:5). I don’t want to make an emotional decision based on what I think I want if that isn’t God’s plan for me. But I also don’t want to make the decision that seems the safest and miss out on seeing God work. I know that I can trust God because He is trustworthy, and He loves me. He will steer me through the twists and turns when I come to Him in prayer with my hands off of the steering wheel.

Through your own twists and turns, who is holding your steering wheel?

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths,” (Proverbs 3:5,6).