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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Car Trip (07/18/05)
I remember the thrill of taking a car trip as a child, and how what seems like a short distance now, felt like a world away back then. Secure in the assumed safety of my seat I would watch the world fly by, at first with wonder but then with bored impatience. Looking back, I am amazed at how totally unaware I was that a world of danger lurked just outside the safety glass. I trusted my dad; he was, after all, my dad. Then, of course, there were the fights with my brother as to who would sit “up front”. “Up front” was a coveted position. Sitting there was like being a co-pilot, while the loser of the day sulked in the back. No matter who you were, the “other” always seemed to get to be “up front” the most.

Things have changed, now I sit behind the wheel, I am in control – “up front” is MY place. Well, that’s how it felt at first. Now I crave to be at the back, the control I thought I had was just an illusion. Sure I hold the wheel, but I am just one variable in a sea of variables, the world of danger still lurks just beyond the safety glass but now I know it is there.

How did it come to this? Growing up was supposed to bring me freedom, but it somehow hasn’t. Instead of my dad up front, who I trusted implicitly, there is me, and I know my failings. Ok, so I realise that my dad isn’t perfect either, but I still felt safer with him behind the wheel.

I really am not in control. I was a fool to ever think that I was.

There’s a lie in this world, a deadly illusion, it says that the goal of success is control. We get told to master our destinies, to grow up and take the reigns, to get behind the wheel ourselves. We all try it, we all fail.

How strange it was to read in the Bible that “Unless we become like little children…”

This life is like a car trip, but so many have taken wrong turns and are lost on its back roads - it happens when we are behind the wheel. The invitation of God is this (and it is not only for the lost, but for those who have decided to take control) – become like a little child, let ABBA take the wheel, let go of the fear of the danger that waits just beyond the safety glass (sin crouches at your door too). You will find that you will only enjoy life to the full when you sit at the back and trust Dad with the wheel.

Oh, and if you badly want to sit “up front” big brother Jesus will let you -if you choose to sit at the back, He is pretty cool that way!
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This article has been read 976 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Nina Phillips
07/25/05
Great story, and I'm listening and hearing the truth behind the wheel. God bless ya, littlelight
Martha Robinson
07/25/05
Very thought-provoking!
Shannon Redmon
07/25/05
Great parallel between trusting our earthly fathers and then our heavenly Father. Ahh yes to be a child again...and yet that's what we are...a child of God's! Good job!
Debra Brand 
07/25/05
Good lesson.
Theresa Kissinger
07/26/05
I can relate to the desire to be 'in control' behind the wheel, the lesson of not being in control at all. Something I hoped my children would learn quickly. This is a very good article about the process of both spiritual and natural maturity.
Melanie Kerr 
07/26/05
Good article. I am not so sure that God wants us always to sit back and enjoy the ride. I find life as a Christian very challenging.
Beth Muehlhausen
07/31/05
Well done. A heightened moment as I was reading: "I really am not in control. I was a fool to ever think that I was." So true, and I needed this reminder today! :-)