Jesus Take the Wheel

From Purpose Through Pain by Chidi Wosu

There is an old saying in churches that reads, “Jesus take the wheel,” which simply means that in life, God should be in the driver’s seat as we submissively follow His direction. I saw a very funny meme online that said, “Jesus take the wheel, but not that wheel.” A driver was missing the front wheel of his car as the rim scraped the pavement.

Sometimes in our lives, we ask for God to be in control, but we want to do it our way. We want to grow in our spiritual lives, but we are not willing to do it the way God wants us to do it.

1 Samuel 8:6-9 – But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”

With the Israelites in the Old Testament, God wanted to be their King, so He appointed priests to rule over them. However, the children of Israel wanted a king so they could be like everyone else. They wanted to do it their own way.

How many times did we want to do it our own way? We date the wrong person because we want to be married like everyone else. We don’t go into ministry because we want to be like everyone else. We plan expensive trips and events to post online to be like everyone else. However, God wants to do things His way. He will let you do it your own way, but God’s way will eliminate unnecessary pain and hardship from you. You can’t want God to “take the wheel” and get frustrated in your circumstance when He doesn’t take the wheel you want.

In life, there are always going to be things we want. There will always be things we would like God to do our way. However, there is a blessing in following how God wants us to navigate through life. It is hard, but do not get caught up in what everyone else is doing; understand what God is trying to do in you. There is so much blessing in being in God’s perfect will. Trust Him that all things will work for your good.  

Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

I must trust You with all my heart, even with the things I don’t want to trust You with. Help me to do this.

In Jesus’ name,

Amen