Menu
  • Home
  • Daily Devotions
  • The Podcast
  • Meet (in)courage
    • About Us
    • Our History
    • Meet the Contributors
    • Meet the Staff
  • Bible Studies
  • Library
  • Shop
  • Guest Submissions
  • DaySpring
  • Mary & Martha
  • Privacy
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
(in)courage - Logo (in)courage

(in)courage

  • blog
  • By TopicTopics
  • Choose an AuthorAuthors
  • Aliza Latta
  • Anjuli Paschall
  • Anna E. Rendell
  • Barb Roose
  • Becky Keife
  • Bonnie Gray
  • Dawn Camp
  • Dorina Lazo Gilmore-Young
  • Michelle Ami Reyes
  • Grace P. Cho
  • Holley Gerth
  • (in)courage
  • Jami Nato
  • Jennifer Dukes Lee
  • Jennifer Schmidt
  • Kaitlyn Bouchillon
  • Karina Allen
  • Kathi Lipp
  • Kayla Craig
  • K.J. Ramsey
  • Kristen Strong
  • Lucretia Berry
  • Mary Carver
  • Melissa Zaldivar
  • Michele Cushatt
  • Rachel Marie Kang
  • Robin Dance
  • Simi John
  • Stephanie Bryant
  • Tasha Jun
  • Courage
  • Diversity
  • Encouragement
  • Friendship
Share
Guest

Cruise Control

by Kayse  •   Jul 13, 2011  •   28 Comments  •  
0
Shares
Download
Share

Photo Credit

My husband is somewhat obsessed with cruise control.  He uses it whenever he can, from the 20-minute trip home from work to the 2-hour trip up north to visit our families.  If there’s a stretch of road long enough to use it, he will.  Sometimes he’ll even turn it on in between signals on the roads in town.

It drives me crazy.

I detest cruise control.  There is something completely unnerving to me about the idea that the car is DRIVING ITSELF.  What if you need to stop suddenly?  What if you relax too much and accidentally fall asleep and the car pummels into a tree?  What if the cruise control takes over and you can’t ever stop?!  No, I am not a fan.  I prefer choosing my own speed and maintaining control of the gas and the brake, thank you very much. On the rare occasion that I convince myself that cruise control might possibly be a safe idea (read: all I can see in front of me is road and there are no cars around for miles), my right foot hovers an inch above the brake pedal.  Just. In. Case.

Unfortunately, this is also my default for life. Keep your eyes on the road.  Stay a safe distance behind the cars ahead of you.  Protect yourself.  Do not relinquish control.  And I’m tired.  So tired.

This fight to be in control all the time, it’s exhausting.  And it’s deceptive.  It disguises itself as preparedness, responsibility, wisdom.  All good things.  But so often the preparedness is really fear, the responsibility and wisdom really pride.  My plan, my way, and nothing bad will happen.

Every day though, I’m learning more and more that it’s a pointless struggle. Sometimes, you can plan all you want and still get lost.  Sometimes, you can drive responsibly and a truck still appears out of nowhere.  Sometimes, things just don’t go your way, no matter how hard you try to make them cooperate.

We have to surrender.  We have to let go.  We have to realize we are never really in control anyways. Thankfully, we have a truly wise, loving God who is.  A God who is able to do immeasurably more with our lives than we could ask or imagine.  A God who has big plans for each of us.  A God who can see beyond our windshield and all the way down the road.

See, this controlling nature of mine, it keeps my life small, manageable, easy.  I can handle it.  I can take care of myself and my family.  I don’t need anyone else.  And I think I’m happy, but I’m not.  I want more.  I’m made for more, and so are you.  We are not called to live small, manageable lives. We are called to live lives of risk and faith and obedience, following the One who works everything together in His unending wisdom.  The safest thing of all is to let go and trust Him.

While I’m not condoning unsafe driving in any way, I do think my husband has the right idea.  (He usually does.)  I could stand to use the cruise control a little more often.  How about you?  Let the car do what it was made to do.  Relax and enjoy the ride.  While it will probably still be bumpy (let’s just be honest), we can know with certainty that we put our trust in the only One who knows the road and guides us safely home.

Are you struggling to relinquish “control” of something today?  How can I pray for you?

By Kayse Pratt, Finding Hope

Leave a Comment
Download
Subscribe to daily words
of courage & hope.
Thank You

Your first email is on the way.

* PLEASE ENTER A VALID EMAIL ADDRESS

Primary Sidebar

Sorry, there was a problem.

Twitter returned the following error message:

To protect our users from spam and other malicious activity, this account is temporarily locked. Please log in to https://twitter.com to unlock your account.