Who's got the wheel?

Control is a tough issue.  So many controversies in life can be reduced to the simple struggle -  Who is in charge?  We spend a lot of effort trying to be in charge of people and situations that are beyond our scope.  Of course the easy answer is, “God is in control, not me.” Ha!  How easy that is to say and how much harder it is to live.  But I wonder - is God always in control and if so how much and in what way?   What does control look like for an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God? 

My daughter,  Hope, and I made a quick trip in and out of Chicago in less than 24 hours.  She had an interview for an internship with a non-profit organization that promotes literacy for urban children.  Since she will be driving herself back and forth to college this year, I decided that it would be a good idea to have her drive in to Chicago.

Now, driving in Chicago is always stressful but after going to school, living and working there for about 10 years, I am fairly confident that I know what to do.  Sitting in the passenger seat, with Hope as the driver, was a new kind of stress.  With all the traffic, speed, and uncertainty around us, I wasn’t in control - she was.  She is a good driver but I had to trust her to make proper choices quickly.  My role was to be in charge of my reactions to her - (always a challenge)  I tried hard to be a supportive mother - to sit still, smile, and quietly nod directions when asked.  It would have been much easier to be the one doing the driving but she needed to do this and I was glad to be with her.  

I couldn’t help but wonder if sometimes God, the good parent, is also in this position in our lives.  We wish we could just raise our hands and sing, “Jesus, take the wheel,”  and maybe that would be easier, but much of the time we really are in the driver’s seat of our lives.  Rather than being in complete control of every decision we make, God is with us saying, “Go ahead and drive but remember that I am right here alongside of you for the ride.”