Skip to main content

The Passenger’s Seat

My oldest daughter turned fifteen this past weekend. She also got her “learner’s licence” and was anxious to give driving a try, so Sunday afternoon found us both in places that were a little uncomfortable – her in the driver’s seat and me in the passenger’s seat.

Now, she did a great job! She was cautious and careful. She was observant. She asked the appropriate questions and she took advice well. In fact, over the course of the two hour session, I was only really concerned two times and both of those had more to do with the snowy road conditions than anything she had done. Still, it was a bit unnerving.

You see, I like the driver’s seat. I like to be in control. Even when I my wife is driving, I think I know how fast we should be going, when we should be slowing down and when she needs to shoulder check more (Truth be told, she is likely a safer driver than I am, but I am not going to admit that). It is just an odd feeling, no matter who the driver is, to be in the passenger’s seat. Your life is in their hands and there is really nothing you can do about it but go along for the ride.

Thinking about it, though, isn’t that true of every aspect of our life? We like to think that we are in control, that we run the show in our own lives, but that is really just an illusion. All it takes is a little bit of tragedy to remind us that we really are just along for the ride. When someone you love gets sick, is in an accident or even dies it does not take long to remember that we control very little.

Fortunately, when my life feels a little out of control, I am can take comfort in the fact that an expert driver is behind the wheel. In fact, he can drive me through things that I would have no idea how to navigate. As the book of Romans states it, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

I may not understand where things are going all the time, but that is ok.
As time goes by, I am becoming a little more comfortable in the passenger’s seat.

“’For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future’” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark and Light

            When you look out at the world, what do you see?             Some see nothing but trouble and pain.   They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow.   Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place.             Others see nothing but good.   They appreciate generous people in their community.   They think about their friends and neighbours and smile.   They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night.   To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place.             You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views.   On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the
1 comment
Read more

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

                 In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations.   These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees.   Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes.   Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today.                The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce.   After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home.   The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too.                Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in
Post a Comment
Read more

Forgetting What Is Behind

                   Generalizations are helpful because they show a pattern that is normally true. However, they are also dangerous because they ignore the exceptions to the rule.                  Here is my generalization:   It is a quality of the strong to be able to forget the past and move on.   The apostle Paul summarizes this idea when he states, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too often, we trip over things that are behind us.   We remember and nurse old hurts.   We rehearse mistakes that no one else recalls.   In doing so, we pull the past into the present and allow it to dictate how we feel right now.   In these cases, we would be better off “forgett
Post a Comment
Read more