Who's Driving The Truck? - January 21, 2024

I did a double take when I looked out my window and saw this guy sitting in the driver’s seat of the giant truck parked in front of my house. Flamingo Septic had arrived to start demolition on our yard and this dog’s owner had gotten out of the truck to start work.  It was obvious the dog wasted no time jumping into the driver’s seat.

It occurred to me that I do that too.  I have great intentions to turn over all my troubles to God.

I start out each day exactly that way, praying, “Lord, this is your day, not mine. I surrender everything to you.”  Then barely an hour goes by, the demolition crew shows up, or my mind gets focused on my bodily pain and “bam!” my anxiety returns.  It seems that I too, cannot wait to jump back into the driver’s seat to take over.

Sometimes I take over with “doing,” like taking immediate action to fix something, most of which is not up to me to fix.  Sometimes I take over with “worry.”  Worrying the work crew is going to do something wrong out front, like nick a water pipe, cut down the wrong tree or just entirely mess up the job.  A lot of the time I worry about my chronic pain.  Why I have it, when it will go away or what else I can do about it. 

 “Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” -Matthew 6:26-27

I can just see God watching me.  He is pleased I have surrendered the day to Him.  Then, when I grab everything back, He just smiles, looks at me with compassion and steps aside.  He’s probably thinking, “There she goes again!”  It reminds me of the poem “Broken Dreams.”

As children bring their broken toys with tears for us to mend

I brought my broken dreams to God because He was my friend

But then instead of leaving Him in peace to work alone

I hung around and tried to help with ways that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried, “How can you be so slow?” 

“My child,” He said, “What could I do?  You never did let go.” -Anonymous

Are we tending to God’s business when we try to take things over?  If we think we know a better way, we can be sure God has thought of something even better.  He is the Supreme Fixer.  The Mender and Problem Solver Extraordinaire. 

“What if we knew for certain that everything we’re worried about today will work out fine?  What if we had a guarantee that the problem bothering us would be worked out in the most perfect way? What if we knew, that everything was okay and we didn’t have to worry about a thing, that the future was good and we would have an abundance of resources and guidance to handle whatever comes our way?  What would we do then?  We’d be free to let go and enjoy life!” -Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go

Maybe it’s time to get out of the driver’s seat, slip on over to the passenger side and see what God will do. 

 So, what are we waiting for? It’s time to move over!