This morning I took my usual route to work which begins with traveling the local streets until I reach a nearby highway meeting many other individuals eager to get to their destination in a timely manor.
As I traveled down this two lane road at a moderate speed I peered into my rear-view mirror only to notice another car following close behind me. I rolled my eyes and thought “great a tailgater” as I continued down the road. I looked over at my speedometer and decided that I was going an appropriate speed and any more would certainly be speeding. Since I had turned over my previous speed-demon ways I decided not to be enticed by this anxious driver.
So I peered into the right-hand lane to see if I could get out of his way when all at once another car sped up the road and whipped past me followed by another car and another! My goodness I thought as I began to feel the familiar desire to join their rampage down the street.
I settled in my seat and thought strongly about it for a second, “I could throw my car in gear, rev up to speed and ride with these guys getting to work that much faster!”. Of course I was quickly hit with the reality which my history (and the police) undoubtedly always reminded me of which was that speeding is illegal.
Now, what does this have to do with our personal lives?? And who cares about speeding down a highway?
We live just like we drive our cars down a highway. As followers of Christ, Ideally the Lord should drive us as we sit in the passengers seat. But if we’re honest there are times where we are provoked by the lives of the people around us. We see them speeding by and begin to question the direction and/or speed our life is going. Sometimes we may even grab the wheel and try to “help” the Lord by redirecting our lives to places we think we should be, changing the speed to whatever we feel is necessary. Or we may get involved with people that take us in a different direction so we end up at a completely different place.
The truth is, just like speeding in the natural world can lead to trouble in many different ways, attempting to mirror this in our way of life is even more dangerous.
“ Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain. “
Another words while we think we are doing some good by taking the reins and adjusting our lives to what we perceive is right, the word says ANYTHING we do outside of God is in vain. It’s rendered useless. This is why the word instructs us to be anxious for nothing and to instead pray as the Lord leads and guards you (Philippians 4:6-7). We cannot let what God is doing in someone else’s life distract us or propel us to do things on our own strength. Don’t let the burning desires outside of Gods direction for your life take you somewhere that feels good for a moment. Don’t allow the enemy to come in and convince you that you know a better way then God.
If we are to be true followers of Jesus Christ we need to learn to trust him. We MUST live as He lived. Not as we feel. Even when people speed past us in a better vehicle, even when we don’t understand, or even like what God is doing.
To some this may seem extreme but Jesus was extreme! He challenged those who weren’t following Jesus AND those who claimed to know God. He was an example to people who never heard of God and to those who devoted their entire lives to his principles. So If we are to truly follow Christ we must be radical in our way of thinking, our way of living, our praying, our praising...simply put, we must be radical in our ways.
So lets never grow tired of letting Him drive.