My first time behind the wheel...

So last Monday I finally started my driving classes. My first time behind the wheel was wow! It took me two seconds to come back and focus on what the guy was trying to teach me. I remember being a little clueless, but slowly getting a hang of things. But more than learning anything, I enjoyed the experience J.

And God used this to also teach me a few things. So many things the instructor said was almost like an echo of what God had/ has been trying to teach me. Thank God for a God who never gives up on me!!

So here goes…

Relax… Don’t Fear

One of the first things that the instructor told me was - ‘Relax’. And this was something he repeated a few times during the course of our teaching session. I would not press on the accelerator until he would tell me to. And he sensed that I was afraid. To encourage me he said ‘The control

s are with me and I am sitting right here so I can control the steering too. I will make sure you don’t hit anything or nothing bad happens. So please relax. Don’t Fear. ‘

How true that is with our God too. Isn’t that exactly what God says too. ‘I am in control. Nothing can touch you without my permission. Be bold. Be strong. Don’t Fear’

And the instructor added one more bit to it – ‘You won’t learn much if you fear’. How true!

So I guess the trick is to be bold and relax. And if something seems fearful, face it. Pray and face it. And time to step on that accelerator.

2 Timothy 1:7 - For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Isaiah 41: 10 - Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

The Teacher Knows Better

Pretty much I was just following what the instructor said. No questions asked. But there were times when what he said wasn’t in line with what I ‘felt’. At such times, I was so tempted to act on what I ‘felt’ was right and safe rather than what the instructor said.

At one point, we were on a straight road and the instructor asked me to just hold the steering wheel straight, just keep it straight. When I did that, I ‘felt’ like the car was going right, like it was sliding to the right and initially I turned the steering a bit to the left. And the instructor had to correct it (before I changed lanes without warning or hit the concrete on the side) and bring the steering back to the straight position and ask me to hold it there. Eventually I told myself to just listen to him regardless of what I ‘felt’.  And that helped!

We were in a tunnel and it was a little daunting but I just held the wheel straight. I felt like we were sliding to the right but I just held the wheel straight. I kept reminding myself that the teacher knows better and its best to just listen to him.

Our God knows the best. Man can mistakes but not God. Regardless of how I feel and what I think is safe, obeying God is the safest and the best thing to do. Don’t act on your feelings. Act on what God says.

Proverbs 3:5 - Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

Give God the Controls

During all the time that I have been learning to drive, the instructor has all the controls too. The main controls are with him. In the sense, no matter what controls I use, he can override that with his controls at any point. I can accelerate only if he lets me accelerate. If I try to accelerate and he decides to brake, his controls would override mine. And for someone who is behind the wheels for the first time, this is such an assurance to know that someone who is an expert is in charge.

It reminded me of how I can sit back and enjoy the ride if my controls are in God’s hands. God who created me is definitely an expert in my life. Like His word says, He has beautiful plans for my life. And no matter what is going on around me, He is making things and has made things beautiful. But He has also given us the gift of ‘choice’. We can choose to give our controls to Him or we can choose to hold our controls ourselves. It would be a very bad choice to hold our controls ourselves. We would jeopardise things for ourselves and for those with us in our car.

For a person like me it’s not an easy thing to hand over the controls to God. I find myself taking the controls back every now and then. That’s why it needs to be an everyday decision, and sometimes, an every moment decision too.

Job 11: 13 – Surrender your heart to God, turn to him in prayer

Psalm 22: 28 - for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.

Everyone is Different

So when we started the classes, I had asked my friend to go first, as she had some driving experience before. I was listening to the instructor and watching her, to try and learn a few things before I sat at the wheel. There were a few things she struggled with and other things she did with complete ease. But it was different once I sat at the wheel, some of the things she found a bit challenging came to me easily and at the same time, some of the things that she did with ease, I found them challenging.

Everyone is different. Something that is easy for me may be hard for someone else. Something that is hard for someone else could be easy for me. Remind yourself of what you are good at and thrive on that. Remind yourself of what someone else is good at and thrive on that. Thrive on the positives. Work at what you find challenging but thrive on the positives.

1.       Don’t be judgemental about someone when they struggle with something. Always remember there are stuff that they are excellent in, that you struggle with. Pray for people but always remember to talk about the positives in people to encourage them.

2.       Don’t be judgemental about yourself when you struggle with something and don’t think something is wrong with you when someone else does something easily and you find it hard. Remember you are a unique special child of God. Always remind yourself about the good things God has blessed you with. Your good virtues, your talents, your gifts. And Praise God for them. Work on the areas that need working on, but don’t beat yourself up about them either.

Thrive on the positives!

Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.