Backseat Driver

Psalm 46:10

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The other day, I was driving home after running some errands with my six year old son, and he noticed that I missed taking the turn off that I would normally take to get home. And immediately he started freaking out at me. “You’re going the wrong way, Dad. Oh, you got to turn around. What are you doing? Don’t you know where you’re going?” He was being a backseat driver.

Of course, I knew there was some road construction down that regular way that we would take home, so I wanted to avoid that. But he wouldn’t listen to me as I was trying to reassure him. “No, I know where I’m going. Don’t worry. Be patient.” He was still upset and trying to get me to turn around and go back until the very moment we pulled into the driveway coming from the other direction. My son was being a backseat driver.

Do you know anyone who’s a backseat driver? Have you ever been a backseat driver? The thing is, we can, of course, at times be spiritually backseat drivers. There are times where God takes certain directions in life, maybe he knows about some road construction or other obstacles that he wants to avoid, and yet we wonder what in the world, Lord? Why are you going this way? Sometimes he takes detours, sometimes he takes the scenic route, and there are times where we question why he is taking us in this way. There are times when we are spiritually speaking, backseat drivers and we’re tempted to question God. To question what he’s doing and where he’s going.

How silly that is of us. How preposterous. It’s God. He knows exactly what he’s doing. I want to share with you a verse that I share with myself in these times when I begin to be a backseat driver to God. It’s from Psalm 46 verse ten.

Be still and know that I am God. (Psalm 46:10)

He’s the almighty God. He has everything under control. And on top of that, we know that he loves us. He cares about us. And so we trust that he’s going to be taking us down the right roads. We know that he loves us. He’s proven his love to us by sending us our Savior, Jesus. And there were some detours, seeming detours, that God took Jesus on. Not according to anyone else’s perspective should Jesus have ended up on the cross. And yet this is the plan that God had for his Son. And it was a good plan, the greatest plan. That was the greatest road that could be taken. Because through Jesus death on the cross, our sins have been completely wiped out and forgiven.

God knows what he’s doing. He has always known what he is doing. He has been at work for you throughout your life. He will continue to be at work for you. So please don’t be a backseat driver. Trust God, even in these times and moments where he might take you in a direction in life that you might not think is the right way. You can have confidence. You can, again, according to this verse, be still and know that I am God.

And we pray, Oh, Lord, help us to always place our trust in you. Help us to not be spiritually speaking, backseat drivers. Amen.

God’s peace be with you.