Panic!

Last weekend we had to go to a wedding rehearsal in Loudon Tennessee (about an hour away) and we decided to take the girls with us. I know how to get to Loudon, but didn’t know exactly how to get to the wedding rehearsal location, so we followed some friends who knew the way. Everything was going along wonderfully when all of a sudden a car got in between us and the car we were following. I didn’t think a thing of it, but Anna hit the roof! “Dad! Dad! Drive faster! We can’t even see Ty’s car! Are we going to be lost forever!?” Norah followed this dramatic spiel of Anna’s by simply screaming out, “Dad! Why do you drive so SLOW!?!” I looked in the rear-view mirror to see Anna’s face contorted with pure panic. It was as if she had just realized she had been kidnapped or something. She was breathing loudly and way too fast, and simply couldn’t hear me explain that everything was okay because I was fairly confident that I could make it to the interstate, having driven this road about seventeen thousand times...

I tried to explain to Anna that I could still follow Ty’s car even if another car got in between us, but it was no use. Literally every single time someone else filled in the empty space between our two cars, Anna gasped, winced or in some other way freaked out about my slow driving and the fact that we were destined to wind up stranded and alone, lost in the inhabitable wilderness that is Knox County. The absolutely palpable tension was ridiculous. I simply could not convince Anna that I knew what I was doing and that she could just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride while I steered her faithfully to her destination. I tried to explain the subtle intricacies and etiquette of following another car on the interstate, but it didn’t make any difference. After all, Anna’s only driving experience can be summed up with a purple Barbie jeep powered by a 12 volt battery in my driveway. No matter what I said, it didn’t land. She couldn’t get it.

When I think back on that night, I am reminded of Isaiah 55 which says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

You see, there is absolutely no reason for me to freak out or worry about any of the things that happen in my life. The Bible says over and over again that God is in total and complete control of every single thing that happens in this world! As Dave Roper said, “There is no maverick molecule in this universe.” Paul, in Ephesians 1:11 says, “we were also chosen, having been predestined  according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.” Psalm 115:3 says, “Our God is in heaven, He does whatever pleases Him.” When I call into question the circumstances and struggles of my life, I am basically saying that God doesn’t know what He’s doing and that I would be much better at His job! The truth of the matter is that God, in His genius fashion, is working out everything in my life for my best; and His plans, His thoughts and His ways are so far over my head, so high above my own, that I could never understand why He does the things He does. If He were to explain it all to me, I wouldn’t understand half of it! I don’t need to panic! I need to sit back, relax and let Him drive...