Who is in the driver seat?

“If it were possible for me to alter any part of His plan, I could only spoil it.” – John Newton

He’s Driving

By saying we need to keep our hands off the wheel, I mean we need to let God do the driving and not try to interfere with what He’s doing. All we can do is spoil it, but even here, God can use evil for His own good (Gen 50:20). When I was learning to drive a car, my older brother kept trying to grab the steering wheel and that made it harder, so remember that God’s plan for you’re and other people’s lives is in His hands, not ours (thankfully!), so “Hands off!”

We’re Not

King Solomon wrote, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will” (Prov 21:1), and that tells me that the king might think he is doing what he wants to do, but he is still under God’s sovereignty, not his own. He is just like water that God can channel and move around in His hands, and He can move the king’s heart to do whatever He is pleased for him to do.

Spoil It

I noticed John Newton said, “if it were possible” to alter any of God’s plans, we “could only spoil it.” How true. Sometimes we spoil it because we don’t really know what God is up to in a person’s life. One man kept asking for money from his family because he told them he needed it. When the man died, only then did they discover that there were drugs everywhere. His own family was enabling his drug addiction, even though they might not have known it, but even here, we can’t alter what God wills to do.

Not Possible

We might think that we could mess up God’s plans for our lives, and we all know that we can certainly mess up our own lives, but in reality, it’s not possible to spoil or change what God has planned and purposed to do. Even the good works that were appointed for us to walk in cannot be stopped because God has prepared them from long ago (Eph 2:10).

Conclusion

I have to continually remind myself that I am not the chairman of the board of my own life. I had to resign from that position and I needed to make Christ President and not just resident, so I took my hands off the wheel and let God do the driving; I understood that He is in charge of where I’m going; I can only spoil what He is trying to do by interfering; and besides, we can’t alter God’s plans anyway because what God has purposed to do, He will do.

by Jack Wellman

A Morning Prayer

Dear God,

We praise you today with our hearts and songs, we praise you for your faithfulness, we praise you for your great power and love. We confess our need for you; our lives don't go so well when we just spin around on our own. We struggle and worry, get weary and worn. Yet you never leave us. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for your care over us, thank you that you breathe renewal right into our souls. We ask for your spirit to fill us, to draw us close to yourself, and to work your purposes through us, as we set our eyes on you.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen.

“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies Oh lord, for I hide myself in you. Teach me to do your will, for you are my God, may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” (Psalm 143:8-10)