October 27th, 2010
My 19yr. old brother is in Texas, all by himself. My oldest brother has recently moved out, carrying more choices, and responsibilities, all by himself. All my older siblings can, and does, drive tons of places, all by themselves. I overhear my younger brothers talking to random kids they meet about the Bible, salvation, and God, even without the coaching of their older siblings. They just do it, all by themselves. I’ve noticed so many people, in fact, all of my siblings, doing so many things, all by themselves. One of our cousins from childhood memories is married now. Wow, even my “baby sister” can swing, all by herself! It seems everyone is doing the ‘growing up’ around here…except me.
Who is the one that most always has a bad attitude? I am. Who’s the one that has a short temper and lashes out in angry on a daily basis? I am. Now I’m certainly not saying I’m the only one who does! But who do I notice seems to be living in immaturity the most around here? I am. While pondering all these things so many people are doing “all by themselves,” I realized that’s exactly what they are NOT doing, and what I was attempting (and failing) to do. “All by myself…” What a foolish idea!
Starting with a simple example, driving for instance, if someone put you in a car for the first time ever, with no knowledge on the subject, what would you do? Some might sit still while time passes and study all the levers and buttons. Though they may eventually get the vehicle to work, they will still live a confused life without knowing the rules of the road, and will soon run out of gas. Others may jump right in, push the pedals to high speed, and spin out of control. But that’s exactly what we are—Out of control.
The wise way to handle this situation would be to read the instruction manual the driving instructor placed in your hand before putting you in the vehicle in the first place. Thankfully, we get both of those for learning to drive. Wouldn’t it be nice though, if we got that for life too? Oh wait, we do! Praise God, for He is our Instructor, and His Word, the Bible, is our manual.
Like I said though, some people try to rely on their own power to figure things out. Or worse yet, they don’t care, go crazy, and crash and burn. Personally I am SO grateful that we don’t have to do things on our own!
I was like those people—Trying to do things on my own. How can “I” be a better person? What must “I” do to live a happier life? There was too much “I” in my thinking. There I was, trying to figure out how to run this vehicle on my own. What I realized though, God is the one who should be in control. What am “I” supposed to do? …. Let Him.
So from this moment on, I want to follow life’s roads with God in the driver’s seat. This ‘growing up’ that I have been inspired to do involves less me and more Him. From this moment on…..
My 19yr. old brother is in Texas, all by himself. My oldest brother has recently moved out, carrying more choices, and responsibilities, all by himself. All my older siblings can, and does, drive tons of places, all by themselves. I overhear my younger brothers talking to random kids they meet about the Bible, salvation, and God, even without the coaching of their older siblings. They just do it, all by themselves. I’ve noticed so many people, in fact, all of my siblings, doing so many things, all by themselves. One of our cousins from childhood memories is married now. Wow, even my “baby sister” can swing, all by herself! It seems everyone is doing the ‘growing up’ around here…except me.
Who is the one that most always has a bad attitude? I am. Who’s the one that has a short temper and lashes out in angry on a daily basis? I am. Now I’m certainly not saying I’m the only one who does! But who do I notice seems to be living in immaturity the most around here? I am. While pondering all these things so many people are doing “all by themselves,” I realized that’s exactly what they are NOT doing, and what I was attempting (and failing) to do. “All by myself…” What a foolish idea!
Starting with a simple example, driving for instance, if someone put you in a car for the first time ever, with no knowledge on the subject, what would you do? Some might sit still while time passes and study all the levers and buttons. Though they may eventually get the vehicle to work, they will still live a confused life without knowing the rules of the road, and will soon run out of gas. Others may jump right in, push the pedals to high speed, and spin out of control. But that’s exactly what we are—Out of control.
The wise way to handle this situation would be to read the instruction manual the driving instructor placed in your hand before putting you in the vehicle in the first place. Thankfully, we get both of those for learning to drive. Wouldn’t it be nice though, if we got that for life too? Oh wait, we do! Praise God, for He is our Instructor, and His Word, the Bible, is our manual.
Like I said though, some people try to rely on their own power to figure things out. Or worse yet, they don’t care, go crazy, and crash and burn. Personally I am SO grateful that we don’t have to do things on our own!
I was like those people—Trying to do things on my own. How can “I” be a better person? What must “I” do to live a happier life? There was too much “I” in my thinking. There I was, trying to figure out how to run this vehicle on my own. What I realized though, God is the one who should be in control. What am “I” supposed to do? …. Let Him.
So from this moment on, I want to follow life’s roads with God in the driver’s seat. This ‘growing up’ that I have been inspired to do involves less me and more Him. From this moment on…..
