Road Trip Traffic
Just went to the beach. The weather was awesome. The waves were big and beautiful. The food was delicious. The traffic on the way gave me chest pains and high blood pressure.
Anyone else have what I call PSSD or Passenger Seat Stress Disorder?
Normally, around town, I am the faster driver when it comes to my husband and I. In fact, sometimes I feel like he is moving the car down the road
f r u s t r a t i n g l y s l o w l y.
But when we go on vacation, he morphs into another person, from Sunday Driver into the King of the Road. No one shall pass! Everyone- get out of our way!
We live on the bumper of the car in front of us. I waver from the eyes-closed position to the foot-into-the-floor panic stance, every muscle in my body tense.
Meanwhile, my husband is in heaven. He doesn’t understand my troubles. He’s fine. I’m not. It’s rough.
The drive home from the beach was the same stressful scenario and so I began to talk to God (between cries for help and protection). Somewhere, in a moment of feeling out of control, God pointed out to me the problem. I was- wait for it- not in control. Duh. Maybe the problem wasn’t my husband’s driving as much (because I still think it was a little) as it was my perception of things. If I was driving, I would do things differently. He isn’t paying attention to all the other cars like I would. He doesn’t brake when I would. He is going faster than I would. Well…Actually… That last sentence isn’t one hundred percent honest. I’d go fast too. But I would have the wheel in my hand and the brake under my foot.
I would be able to control all the things.
Scoop, there it is. That ^up there^ is a lie.
And believing that lie was my real issue. Because let’s be honest. Even if I am the one driving the car, I can’t control everything. I can’t control the other drivers or the road conditions or what may be happening around the next corner. I don’t even consider myself a controlling person, but sitting there in the passenger seat with my eyes squeezed shut, I became aware of my inner subjugation and the dichotomy I was living in. I can’t control this. I can’t change the situation. I can’t get into the driver’s seat right now and I need peace!
Again, God speaks to me. “Let me drive.”
How hard it is for us people to ‘let go and let God.' Carrie Underwood has it right when she says, “Jesus take the wheel.” But we can’t see Him and we can see everything else around us. The struggle is real.
The Centurion in the Bible had great faith. Jesus said He hadn’t seen anyone on earth who trusted Him like the Centurion. Why? Because after he asked Jesus to heal his servant, he was all good. He didn’t have to take control of the situation and walk Jesus to his home, explain all the details of what needed to be done or watch over the miracle as it happened to be sure it was the way he wanted:
Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith…
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
(Matt 8:7-13 NIV).
God taught me that Bible lesson about the Centurion years ago and it changed my life. I’m not saying I’m perfect at it (obviously), but I really have found a way to live free from worry and anxiety most days. How? I talk to God- like for real. I tell Him everything that I see and that I’m feeling and then I let go and let Him sort things out. He gives me direction and wisdom and rest. We have a relationship and I have gladly given Him the lead position. He is control. I really do ride shotgun, in abundant life, by surrendering the wheel to Him. It’s a principle that has been tried and proven to be true, over and over in my life. Fully trusting God as the driver is way better than trying to steer things myself. He has never taken me down a road that wasn’t best for me. He hasn’t bumped my life into the bumper of a life in front of me unless it was for our good. He hasn’t taken me past something I didn’t want to pass, unless it was necessary. We’ve gone around a lot of corners together. It’s always an adventure and it is always so good.
As the truth of this revelation flooded my mind, peace took over my heart. My foot relaxed from its place on the floor and my eyes opened up again. I let go of the control I was trying to have and I settled in, knowing that my husband may be the one driving the car, but God was the one in control. He knew what was up ahead. He had His hand on us and, figuratively speaking, on the wheel.
By the time we were home, my blood pressure was back to normal and my marriage was intact (Praise hands emoji). Like all lessons I have learned from God, I know I will have the opportunity to pass this drivers test again, pun intended. But the good news is that pass or fail, I have God behind the wheel and I can trust Him. Sight unseen, He always drives me into triumph (2 Cor 2:14 paraphrased).
“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Cor 2:14 NKJV.
