By: Jack Kale, Pastor Central Pensacola Beach
Zorro, my 13-month-old 125 lb South African Boerboel, climbed into my truck while I was packing up to go home from a few days at the camp. His large frame and the enormity of his head made it look like he was the driver as he sat behind the wheel, waiting for me to get my stuff together. He sat there for at least an hour as I gathered my things and loaded the rest of the truck. It was crazy how much he looked like he was the driver . . . But he wasn’t. He was just in the driver’s seat.
In life, we let Zorros of all kinds sit in the driver’s seat. Sometimes bad habits crawl behind the wheel of life’s car. Addictions, fears, ambitions, and all sorts of other problems can find their way as drivers in our lives at times. None need to give us direction. None are capable of getting us down the road anymore than my Zorro is. Still, we give up the driver seat way too often for these cronies.
At other times, we become the Zorro of someone else’s ride. We jump in and act like their life is our own. We armchair quarterback our football coaches. We have conversations that begin with, “If I was them, I would” — fill in the blank. We judge each other and find it way too easy to tell someone else what to do while still wearing our own shoes. We each have way too much going on in our own lives to climb into someone else’s driver seat, but we still do it.
There is still another driver’s seat perspective that we should consider. There are times when we need someone else to do the driving. When we are too exhausted to make good decisions or if we are impaired by trauma and pain, we need to get some help with the driving. Sometimes we need to rely on the help of those willing and qualified to get us further down the road.
I’ve found that in those times when I need help with the driving, I can always turn to Jesus. The old bumper sticker proclaimed that “Jesus is my co-pilot.” I believe that God has better plans and is better able to get me where I need to be than me, Zorro, or anyone else. Paul said it this way in I Corinthians 1:24-25: “But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
This week I invite you to consider who or what is in the driver’s seat of your life. Do you trust those who want to take over? Do you need help to get where you are going? Are you inundated with folks, like Zorro, who are jonesing to take over your life? Are you more interested in driving other people’s lives than your own? Are you tired and need to pull over for a bit? Has life’s craziness impaired you for the moment? Lean into your faith and let faith give you some direction. Don’t just take Jesus for a ride; give him the keys!