I was driving last night, both kids fast asleep in the back and my church girl music on. I was in full worship mode.

I kept getting that feeling that there was something on my left, my guess is it was just reflection of the passenger seatbelt, there was no one on that seat, I knew that but I kept turning and looking that side…

So I jokingly said to myself, maybe Jesus is there next to me. Almost like a reflex I thought ‘no Jesus is supposed to be on the drivers seat of my life not the passenger’

….and that’s how this controversial blog title came from so hear me out.

Life is not supposed to be a free joy. The Christian life is certainly not sitting back and napping while everything works itself out, it’s not paradise, it’s a journey to paradise.

No, life is like driving school. And it matters who you have on your passenger seat, that’s the person who teaches you what to do, they are the one who tells you where to go, they tell you about all the cliffs and slopes you will encounter and how to overcome them.

And it’s not like learning how to drive an automatic car, no it’s like driving a manual car, you have to manoeuvre and work with all the aspects of it, you have to switch gears yourself depending on the season of your life and what’s happening around you.

This is not a lesson in the back streets where there is no one around. As an adult, life is like a driving lesson on the highway, they are other cars around you, some essentially trying to contribute towards your driving skills, and not just that, you now have people on your back seat, parents, peers, pastors, and in this world of social media at least another million times over people, who are telling you how to drive and where to go and also showing you just how much they are “living their best life.”

Now that I have set the scene for you tell me;

If you step out of driving seat and tell Jesus he needs to be there where do you think you will go? What will you accomplish?

“A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest – and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man”

“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from”

You foolish persons, do you want evidence that faith without works is useless?

Anyone who does not provide for their relatives especially for their own household he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe and prayer, in waiting for God to direct you and provide for you….but we need to understand God will provide opportunities, he will put you on the right paths but YOU HAVE TO WALK.

When Jesus spoke about his departure from the world he said “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another helper who will be with you forever.That helper is the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept him, because it doesn’t see or know him. You know him, because he lives with you and will be in you.“

The Holy Spirit is our helper he’s not there to do everything for you, he’s your helper.

As I was discussing this with my mother she had an interesting take on this it she said people like to say “God is in control” (to justify their inactivity) yet when they start doing things themselves God does not stop them, they are in control, and when they mess up they start saying oh well God is in control”(essentially blaming God for what’s happening in their lives.)

What I’m trying to show you is, Jesus is not on the driver seat of your life and he can’t be. I love hearing people say this ‘God is a gentleman’ because he gave you free will.

As a believer, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are right by your side, they are giving you directions, go there, don’t go there, don’t do that, follow that path…you have control and final decision, you can choose to surrender and obey Him or you can choose to do whatever you want.