Wholly Holy - “Stay in your lane”
A brief note before I jump in. I will be posting a variety of blogs - some relating directly to therapy, others to life and this one - Wholly Holy - to my walk with Christ and how I see Him in my daily life as a believer and a therapist. Please comment, share and ENJOY!
This past week I bought my very first new car. (well, actually Jim did most of the work — if you know us at all, you know my contribution was “ooh! Silver with black rims!? I like that one!”) I’ll share in another blog the salesman we met and the amazing way Christ put us in each other’s lives, but for now - let’s talk about safety features. My new wheels have a feature called “Lane Keep Assist”. Basically, the car makes sure you’re keeping it between the lines. If you begin to drift, you’ll first feel a gentle tug from the car back into the center of the lanes. If you fail to respond to that cue - the car pulls a bit harder. If you still haven’t righted yourself, red lights and alarm bells are soon to follow. It’s a pretty cool feature. During my test drive, the salesman took me on the highway to try it out. He instructed me to hold gently on the steering wheel and let the car take me along the straightaway and though a gentle curve. I was good until the curve. As it approached and I saw a truck coming up next to me, I grabbed the wheel tightly and steered myself through the curve. (Ok, for the sake of this blog ignore the fact that allowing the car to drive itself isn’t the point of the system — I’m taking creative liberty here to make a point) As I jerked the wheel, the salesman said “Didn’t trust it, huh?” Flash forward to today. I drove out to the beach to spend time with God. On the way out, I cranked up the praise music. Maybe it was the combo of the music and my new Lane Keep Assist system - but suddenly, the correlation was perfectly clear. I may have just gotten a new car, but my life has had Lane Keep Assist since before I was born. Along my journey, I’ve hit the rumble strips of life quite a few times. It was during those times that I tried to rely completely on myself and my own ability to “stay in my lane”. Predictably, it didn’t work out well. As my walk with Christ has grown, so has my faith and trust in Him. I know - without a doubt - that I can do all things with Him and nothing without Him. So, what’s my point? Jesus is the OG Lane Keep Assist. When I am walking with Him and in tune to His voice, He lets me know when adjustments are necessary. At first, His reminders are gentle. If I continue down MY path, trusting only myself - His nudging becomes stronger and the alarm bells begin to sound. Now — God isn’t going to keep me from putting my car in the ditch. He’s done all He will do - we have free will and I must CHOOSE to hear His voice and follow His commands. But, what I’ve realized is it doesn’t need to get to that point. If I trust Him from the outset and use His Word to keep myself on track — all I will need are gentle reminders. We get in to trouble when we choose not to trust Him or more often, choose to put more trust in ourselves. I get it, trusting anyone or anything completely is hard. I knew the salesman wouldn’t have me try out the Lane Keep Assist feature if he wasn’t sure it would work. But, I still trusted myself more. I know that God wants only good things for my life, but sometimes when things get tough - I rely too much on my self and too little on Him. Those are precisely the times I need to fully trust Him and look to His Word for guidance. I hope this makes as much sense to y’all as it did to me. It was one of those times the metaphor for life hit me right in the face. Moral of the story? You’re never cruising along the highway of life alone. Jesus is and always will be your Lane Keep Assist(ant). All you have to do? Trust Him more and yourself less. And, if you miss the alarm bells and end up in the ditch — don’t count it all for not. Since you’re stuck and obviously not going anywhere without assistance - pray that assistance comes in the form of an opening of your heart to God’s will for your life. When you’re following his will completely, staying in your lane isn’t an issue. And trust that if you do begin to drift - there will be a gentle reminders to get you back on track.