Dual Controls

Dual Controls

“In all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will direct your paths.”

Quite coincidentally, the first time that my father took me driving was also the last time that he took me driving. Our one and only attempt at “driver training” was quickly followed by a call to the Morgan School of Driving to sign me up for driving lessons. They showed up several weeks later in a car that I will never forget: a black 1966 AMC Rambler equipped with dual controls. Yes, that’s right; it had two steering wheels, two gas pedals, and two brakes so that the instructor could take over at any moment when a student’s driving so required.

In talking about our giving God control of our lives, A. W. Tozer, in his book “The Radical Cross”, mentioned something that reminded me of those Morgan School of Driving dual controls. In allowing God to direct our paths and in being led by the Spirit, we, in many ways, give up the steering wheel and control of our lives to someone greater, to a God filled with wisdom and perfect in knowledge. We surrender control to a God who knows the end of every road we might take, the outcome of every choice and decision we might make, and the effect of our every action.

And that works quite well until our desires conflict with God’s will for our lives. And what happens is often similar to what happened when the driving instructor didn’t like the driving choices I was making; he would take over control of that AMC Rambler leaving my controls with absolutely no power to do anything. With us, we take control away from God so that we can do what we want, leaving Him out of a segment of our lives, ignoring the potential consequences and ramifications of our wanting our own way.

We have to remind ourselves early and often that God can be trusted. We have to remember that God has only our best in mind when He directs the paths of our lives. We can never allow ourselves to forget that God’s ways are perfect and that the end of the road He leads us on will be fulfillment and true happiness for each one of us. What we might want to do is disconnect the extra set of controls in our personal “AMC Rambler”, leaving the steering, speed and total control of our lives in the hands of a faithful, loving God.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church