Get in the Back Seat!
By-Crickettt
Philippians 4:6-7(GW)--Never worry about anything. But in every situation let God know what you need in prayers and requests while giving thanks. Then God's peace, which goes beyond anything we can imagine, will guard your thoughts and emotions through Christ Jesus.
Psalm 50:15(GW)--Call on me in times of trouble. I will rescue you, and you will honor me.
Proverbs 3;5-6(GW)--Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths smooth.
At some point in our lives, we are all faced with situations where we are forced to make decisions. Sometimes, the choices are difficult to make, and we feel so stressed out not knowing what to do. We know the Bible says we must not be anxious about anything but in all things give thanks to God for this is His will for us. God's peace sustains us when we are truly following after Him in obedience to His Word and allowing His perfect plan to operate in our lives. That is not always easy and can become very frustrating especially if we let everything else happening around us become "One Big Distraction".
Recently, I was faced with a very difficult decision to make that would literally alter my future. The changes came suddenly without warning and were so heart wrenching for me. I couldn't fathom walking down that same path once again as I have walked several times before. How in the world, after being finally settled and comfortable would I get through this again? I found myself focusing on all the negative instead of looking at this as a new journey with God. After all, He did say in Jeremiah 29:11-"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future". (NIV)
He has promised to bless those whose mind is set on Him and those who continually keep Him close in their hearts and commune with Him daily. We will never hear God's still small voice that speaks to our inner spirit by His Holy Spirit if we're not in a place of knowing God. That still small voice directs our steps, teaches us and surrounds us with daily blessings that bring us into God's perfect plan. But, are we truly listening? Are we doing everything it takes to follow after Jesus and obey His direction for our life no matter how uncomfortable it may be? When difficult times come up, we are not always where we should be in our walk and its very easy to panic, allow fear to grab a hold (which is from Satan) and have a melt down. The enemy wants nothing more than to see us get angry and shake our fist at God and blame him for everything that goes wrong in our life. If we are already in a vulnerable state of mind, the devil tricks us and lies and gets us completely off track. We become like the story in the Bible of the Israelite people when they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years because they kept complaining and shaking their fist at God instead of thanking Him for the journey and the blessing which lay before them. They really missed it Big Time and it was the next generation who got to enjoy the Promised Land.
We are like that sometimes too...angry, frustrated and often stumbling through the dark not able to see where we are going next and caving in when things get too hard to handle.
During those moments of despair and anxiety that I was experiencing, Jesus kept saying, "Trust Me". I had distracted myself so much due to my circumstances that I couldn't find an answer. As a Christian, I already knew that God is in total control, but in those moments, I was too focused on the problem. God is for me and not against me. He was trying to get my attention and let me know He had a much bigger and better plan and not to worry. Just because I couldn't see what was ahead, didn't mean He wasn't working behind the scenes already putting everything into place. "Trust Me", I kept hearing Him say over and over. "Be still and know that I am God".
My husband noticed how upset I was and called me over and said, "God's got this! Do you trust him?" "I mean...do you Really Trust Him?" " If we tell our kids to hop in the back seat of the car because we want to take them somewhere, they jump in knowing we are going. Why? Because they trust us. We are their parents and they know we love them. They will eagerly go with us even if they don't know where we are taking them." "God is like that too, He wants you to get in the back seat and just let Him drive you where He wants to take you. You don't have to know where you're going, all He wants you to do is Trust Him." "So, do you really trust God enough to let Him have control and you just ride in the back seat and enjoy the view along the way?"
I had to seriously stop and look at what he said. Do I trust God enough to get in the back seat and let Him drive knowing He's got this? He's behind the wheel...not me...I'm in the back seat. How can I steer from the back seat? Do I trust God? Do I trust Him enough to know He will carry me where I am supposed to go with Him? Now, that alone made me see "Me" for who I am in Him. And that is exactly what opened my eyes and changed my whole outlook on my situation. How have I been believing? What have I been saying and doing? It's like, I have been convincing myself with all the negative talk to expect different. That is where our thinking can literally change our whole perspective and our actions and therefore our destiny. If I claim that God has this, then I have to walk away and tell God O.K. it's Yours. It's time for me to get in the back seat and just let God drive, look out the window and just enjoy the view along the way. That is what He wants me to do.
"Wow!" I just couldn't believe it was that simple! How come I didn't think of it like that before? It made perfect sense to me now and I was filled with so much peace for the first time since it had all transpired. I was so happy, and the weight of worrying had been lifted off my shoulders. I was not in control, God was. He's taking me on this journey and all He expects of me is to Trust Him. I can do that! I can trust God because He is my Father and He loves me. He will never leave me or forsake me.
That is all God asks of you too. Trust Him. When life is difficult and you don't know what to do, just Get in the Back Seat....Enjoy the view and let God take you where He wants you to go!
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