God at the Wheel
And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make the darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. – Isaiah 42:16
Traveling along the interstate highway on a cross-country trip this summer, I was driving as we headed into a storm.
The line of clouds loomed larger and larger on the horizon, and the landscape darkened until we were engulfed with pelting rain blurring our vision.
I enjoy storms and I enjoy driving, especially on the highway, but the combination of the two had my fingers clutching the wheel in a white-knuckle
grip, and fatigue soon ensued. What a relief to turn the wheel over to my husband!
Likewise in our Christian journey, how lovely it is to leave the driving to God. Life is comprised of a varying landscape of experiences—gorgeous
plains of enjoyment and delight interspersed with the rockier terrain of pain and grief. Our view of such life-experiences is much calmer from the
comfort of the passenger seat.
As the Heavenly Father “takes the wheel,” in our hearts we know He has complete control over any situation life’s road may encounter. Catching sight of
a particularly challenging stretch up ahead, we may protest, “Oh, but I’m not sure I want to go there!” The prospect of the situation renders us uncertain,
but God’s driving record is impeccable: icy steeps of pain, boulder-strewn emotional trails, or seemingly impassable mountains of grief are conquered
without danger of sliding from the “paths of righteousness.”
Rather than letting ourselves become alarmed, we can relax; our Guide is the One who knows the end from the beginning, and as we lean on His promise, “He
will not suffer thy foot to be moved” (Psalm 121:3), we can know that the road ahead will soon be clearly seen once again.