I have discovered that I am not the best passenger in the car. I am not a huge fan of driving and I will happily suggest my husband drive the car to various locations as I relish the opportunity to relax and not concentrate on the task of manoeuvring a vehicle through the often crazy traffic.

I am also blessed with being able to do other things in a moving vehicle that some others can’t, such as reading, writing, craft or playing with my iPad. I think my husband really likes it when I am taken up with other activities otherwise I keep trying to activate the brake in the floor of the passenger side of the car. There is no such device, but boy I wish there was!

I have the uncanny ability to look up at the wrong time … when brake lights from the vehicle in front seem to be bearing down on me at an unreasonable pace – on goes my brake.  When I think my husband is about to pull out in front of oncoming traffic at completely the wrong time (according to me) – on goes my brake.  Each time this happens my lovely husband looks over and tells me something like, “it’s okay” or “I’ve got this” or “I saw them” and I reassure him it’s not about not trusting his driving ..it’s the other drivers I worry about.  But I am now wondering, is that actually the case?

Is it really about others, or is it more about me, and the fact that I am not in control of the vehicle?  I absolutely trust David’s driving ability … until I sense that things aren’t happening the way I would want them to, and then I try to take back control.

While this is an issue that I need to navigate in my married relationship, I certainly see a reflection of this attitude in my relationship with God too.  There have been many, many times that I am in the midst of a situation that I have entrusted to God, but I begin to feel that things are not happening in my time frame or in the way that I think they should.  It is then I try to step in and apply the imaginary brake, and it usually doesn’t go well.

There is a verse that comes to my mind each time … Exodus chapter 14, verse 14 says, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”  Another well-loved favourite is from the book of Proverbs, chapter 3 and verse 5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  Again, I do trust God and His direction, but I need to continually relinquish control to Him for the situations I face.

I will also try to relax in the process, both with God and with my husband’s driving!

Be blessed.