My son got his driver’s permit about two weeks ago and my prayer life increased by leaps and bounds about two weeks ago. Actually, he is doing a really good job of listening and following instructions. He has admitted driving is harder than it appears.
Sam’s biggest issue is he tends to bounce between the yellow line and white line and hasn’t found the consistent grove in the middle yet. I have to admit, I’ve surprised myself by how calm I’ve been sitting in the passenger seat. When he gets close to the lines, I say curb or center line to let him know how to correct without raising my voice and freaking him out. It has worked fairly well for us; however, I did have to raise my voice once. Okay, I’ll admit it, I screamed. We were riding down a 4 lane road with the speed limit 55 mph and he needed to get into the turning lane at the stoplight to make a left hand turn. It was the first time he had ever made a turn with oncoming traffic moving towards him. He got in his lane smoothly, yet he didn’t seem to be slowing down… at all. All I could think about was the median which was getting close quickly and the idea of taking a turn at 45 mph was not a good thing for my van or my sanity. I yelled stop, he finally did, and then we waited for the light to go through the cycle and give us a green arrow instead of turning on the green ball. We survived the scare, but it would have been more pleasant to have avoided it completely.
Life for us is similar to driving. There are rules or guidelines we need to follow and as long as we stay within the boundaries, we will be safe. These boundaries are there to protect us, more than to prevent us from doing something wrong. God put them in place because He loves us [Revelation 3:19]. It would serve us well to know them [Joshua 1:8]. We have a Book available to us that contains all we need to know to be successful in traveling down the road of life, and it holds all the answers we need [Deuteronomy 30:9-10].
We also have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us Who will guide and direct us when we are going off course [John 14:26]. We; however, must choose to listen to Him and do as He says [Acts 20:23].
The more time Sam spends behind the wheel of the car, the better driver he will become and the safer he will be. He’ll learn to follow the rules of the road and stay between the boundaries for his safety and the safety of those around him. The more time we spend in the Word and with the Lord, the more familiar we will become with his character and the path He is leading us down. We will recognize His voice and be able to respond to it and remain safe [John 10:27]. Sam is always eager to get behind the wheel of the car for more practice. He wants to do the best he can possibly do and knows he must invest his time and energy to make that happen. What about you?