How To Depend On Christ

Daddy, You Drive

My son finished drivers education lessons and is now ready for his drivers license. I knew this day would come, I just didnt realize how soon it would come! I can still remember the little two-lane road, when Josh was just a preschooler, when he first wanted to drive. I put his little slender body in my lap and watched as he gripped the wheel and proclaimed with such clarity, Daddy, I wanna drive. Let me drive.

Yes, I gave into the desire and proceeded down the two-lane road with corn fields on both sides. He enjoyed the challenge with a great big smile, all the while my hands were on his hands. It was not long before the self-sufficiency began to proceed out of his mouth, Daddy, I wanna drive by myself. With much resistance, I began to tell him how much he still needed me. I wanted him to know that Daddy was there to help and together we could do this.

Persistence paid off as he began to remove my hands from his. Once again, he was feeling the moment and was proud of it. Of course, Dad still had the foot controls. All at once Josh desired to show his satisfaction by turning to me and smiling with a great big possum grin. It was at the moment the old Toyota took a turn to the right, going through the ditch and up into the corn field, under my observation. Josh quickly began to nervously say, Daddy, you driveyou drive!

Well, that was over 13 years ago, and that was only one of many lessons that my wife and I have used to show him that self-sufficiency will only result in inefficiency in ones life.

One of the greatest weaknesses we as humans have is our self-sufficiency. Let me explain. By self-sufficiency I mean that a person doesnt need to rely on an outside source. Being self-sufficient means that a person functions with an independent spirit.

Jesus disciple Peter showed this attitude. He confidently declared to Jesus, I will never deny you. Yet we know how miserably he failed. Three times, as a matter of fact! How about us? Have we ever failed miserably and then made a commitment to God and ourselves saying, I will never do it again. Yet what happened? We repeat the failure over and over. Why? Because whenever we rise up in a spirit of self-sufficiency (I can fix it, I can do it) towards God, we will keep on falling.

We dont understand that God allows this to happen so that He can break our self-sufficient spirit. God actually wants us to let go. He wants us to come to the place where we acknowledge with all our hearts that we cant really live the Christian life; only He can do that through us as we depend on Him.

Ecclesiastes 7:14, In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

This verse deserves your meditation today if only but for this moment. When things go well today, and you experience prosperity, rejoice. When the next chapter in your life brings adversity, the Bible exhorts us to consider. I like the specifics of this consideration. God is the One Who is still in the drivers seat. He allowed the conditions that set you up for great rejoicing and also the ones that bring great consideration. He has them lined up for just what you and I need in this specific time in our lives. There is one other consideration for your meditationconsider, whether in rejoicing over prosperity or considering in adversity, that nothing will bring contentment to your soul like Him. These considerations should bring all of us to one conclusion how much we need HIM. Find some time to look heavenward today and say, Daddy, you drive.